


In Which The Author Tortures The Characters (Oneshots, Fic Ideas and Requests)

by SidewaysClarinet



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Autism, Autistic Character, Band!Rin, Based on a Vocaloid Song, Bon can be a sweetheart sometimes, Character Death, Clarinet player, Clarinet!Rin, Dammit Rin now you got hypothermia, Dyslexia, Dyslexic Character(s), Epilepsy, Experimenting of the not-fun kind, Female Rin, Female Rin Okumura, Fix-it fic, Frequent Seizures, Frostbite, Gen, Graphic Violence, I love Yukio I swear, Implied/Referenced Torture, Just not in canon apparently, Psychological Trauma, Rin is a pretty siren oh boy, Rin is a v vengeful ghost, Seizures, Siren!Rin, Sirens, This is all too much for Yukio, demon!Rin, ghost!Rin, sadfic, witch hunt au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2018-08-23 11:21:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 45,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8325802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SidewaysClarinet/pseuds/SidewaysClarinet
Summary: Just what the title says; a book of oneshot, requests and fic ideas! Requests are always welcome, but please understand that I may not do your request immediately!Latest Chapter: Stupid Otouto (We're Okay)Sometimes, Rin's otouto really was an idiot. No sane person would ever throw themselves between a someone and a bullet, and yet, here they are. Yukio is in a hospital and Rin swears, she really is going to rip her hair out this time. (Fem!Rin, Okumura sibling bonding)





	1. Chapter Orders!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KaitouHime](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaitouHime/gifts), [maye](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maye/gifts), [HeartOfInk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeartOfInk/gifts), [Arlerted](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arlerted/gifts).



> Hey there! Although this is not my first story, it is my first story on AO3, so excuse me if I act like a total noob. Anyways, in this chapter there will be descriptions of violence, reoccurring seizures (dammit Rin) and hints of death. 
> 
> Also, I do not plan to have these one shots centered around one pairing that sprawls across all chapters. There will probably be a variety of pairings, hinted pairings, requested pairings, etc, etc. 
> 
> Feel free to comment feedback and all, even if it's literally just flames! This is going to sound unbelievable, but somehow in my career of fanfiction, I have never had anyone just plain out hate comment on my stories. I'm kind of looking forward to that, aha. 
> 
> Moving on!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter orders for new readers!

Chapter 1: Rin had always been a violent child, but they never would have guessed that effects would have reached this far. (Epileptic!Rin)

Chapter 2: Yukio knew that his brother wouldn't die easy, but he never would have suspected his brother would be vengeful enough for this. (Songfic, asshole!Yukio)

Chapter 3: Rin is a complete idiot, but she can't exactly say that she wasn't expecting that. (Rin x Izumo)

Chapter 4: The three times Ryuji refused to accept it and the one time he did. (3+1 Bon x Rin)

Chapter 5: Rin was quite a bit smarter than the Exwires gave him credit for. (Dyslexic!Rin)

Chapter 6: Rin was never nervous when performing. (Requested, fem!Clarinet Player!Rin)

Chapter 7: The Exwires have encountered a rather... peculiar type of demon. (Siren!Rin)

Chapter 8: How Shiemi- and any self respecting woman -should have reacted in Chapter 73. (600 word fic, spoilers!)

Chapter 9: Rin was frostbitten up to his wrists, Yukio is having a panic attack and Shima is forced to be the peacekeeper. It was just a simple mission to spend a few weeks helping around the Vatican's Antarctica HQ, how did everything go so wrong?

Chapter 10: One time, long, long ago, there lived a young demon in the land. He came to love a young prince, so the story goes. (Rin x Bon, based on Vocaloid Witch Hunt)

Chapter 11: Whenever Rin was upset, Shiro always seemed to know how to fix it. But now, Shiro's gone, and it's up to Yukio and the Exwires to pick back up the pieces after the Grigori just can't leave things be.

Chapter 12: Sometimes, helping family members with mental illnesses isn't easy. Yukio can't help Rin with his autism all by his lonesome, but thankfully the Exwires are there to help out! (And fend off the fangirls, of course)

Chapter 13: He submitted to them years ago -- months? Weeks? Decades? He didn't remember anymore (he felt empty). There was a reason he was here. He was Satan's bastard. No, that wasn't it either. Protect. Yes, he had someone to protect. SomeONES to protect.

Who were they?

He didn't remember anymore.

Chapter 14: Their movements are sharp, coordinated, matching perfectly with each other as Yukio leads. They're wild and intense, slaughtering demons left and right just to return to a demonic mockery of a passionate embrace, dancing through the blood and carnage. It's a new side of them that he's never seen before.

He's not quite sure how he feels about that.

Chapter 15: Sometimes, Rin's otouto really was an idiot. No sane person would ever throw themselves between a someone and a bullet, and yet, here they are. Yukio is in a hospital and Rin swears, she really is going to rip her hair out this time. (Fem!Rin, Okumura sibling bonding)


	2. Untimely

  
_The first time the Esquires saw Rin have a seizure, it was during Cram class._

\-----

"...and so, if you just add in a bit of aloe here, it completely changes the reaction from the previous one, and instead the demon will- Okumura-san, could you please redirect your attention to the front, please?" Yukio sighed, stopping in the middle of his lecture to address his brother. He had tried his hardest to drop subtle hints here and there -- making eye contact with Rin, asking Shiemi questions, addressing topics that he knew his brother was familiar with -- but Rin just continued to stare at what seemed like the upper right corner of the board, lost in space.

Yukio felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance when Rin didn't even look at him, just continuing to stare at the board. He put his piece of chalk down and crossed his arms, staring Rin down. "Okumura-kun, although I appreciate you not sleeping in class, could you please at least attempt to act like you're paying attention?" He requested. Everyone in the class was staring at him, at this point, just as confused as he was. Normally, at this point, Rin would hastily apologize, but right now his brother wasn't doing any of that. It was if he hadn't heard Yukio at all.

"Okumura-kun?" He sidestepped his desk, making his way through the part between the desks and up to his brother's. He waved a hand in front of Rin's face, but Rin didn't break eye contact with the board. "Okumura-kun, are you there?" He prodded again. No response, once again. "Earth to Rin, calling in Rin," He said with a light smile. The Esquires chuckled, but he could practically feel how confused they were. Rin hadn't ever spaced out for this long before, or so intensely.

"Rin, c'mon..." Yukio sighed, reaching forward and gently shaking Rin's shoulder. As if a switch had been flipped, Rin jerked, eyes widening before they settled on Yukio. The younger twin frowned and prepared to lecture Rin, but before he could even say anything, Rin was talking.

"My head hurts," Rin said simply.

Yukio was so startled by the simplistic answer that he didn't say anything, while Shima snorted at the absurdity of it. Yukio shot Shima a warning glance (the pinkette raised his hands in a placating gesture) before looking back at his brother, expression twisted in concern. "What's wrong?"

"My head hurts," Rin repeated.

"I can get you some Ibuprofin after class, Rin, do you think you can make it until then?" Yukio asked softly. It was no use, however, Rin was already staring back up at the board, not hearing a single word that Yukio said after that. Yukio frowned, but went back up the front of the classroom, brows furrowed in thought. Rin was acting incredibly odd today -- he'd been acting weird for the past few days, actually. Ever since they had rescued Kuro from his rampage and Rin had head butted him, his older brother wasn't acting the same. It was weird. And worrying.

"Hey, sensei, what's up with Okumura-san?" Shima asked, voicing all of their thoughts. Shiemi, who was sitting next to Rin, was looking at him worriedly, a hand resting lightly on his upper arm. Sugoro hadn't taken his eyes off of Rin since Yukio had first called him out, looking frusturated, as if he was trying to figure out why Rin was acting so oddly.

"He'll be alright, let's get back to the lesson, alright?" He replied with a smile, but even he seemed unsure. He picked the chalk up and tried to pick up where he left off, but his train of thought was scattered. He couldn't seem to get the right words out. So lost was he in his thinking, he didn't hear how Rin's hand was spasming, long nails tapping against the desk in irregular patterns. At this point, even the two quiet boys at the back of the classroom had their eyes on him, wondering what in the world was going on.

Yukio had trouble thinking of what was wrong with Rin. He didn't think he'd ever seen Rin act like that before. Not since earlier in their childhood, what must have been their elementary or middle school years, when Rin still had... when Rin had his...

Yukio's eyes widened suddenly, dropping the chalk. "Oh, crap- nii-san!"

He was back over by his brother's side in a flash, just barely there in time to catch Rin before his head slammed against the table. He pulled Rin out of his chair and laid him gently on the ground, which all in all wasn't an easy task, considering how Rin was more tense than a tree trunk. There were confused cries from the students as they crowded around him, but he quickly waved them away. "Give him some space, he needs space."

He racked his mind, trying to remember how they had helped him when they were younger. Ah, dammit. First was the... the spacing out, the headache, then the spasms, then passing out, right? He searched his mind for anything else, but then his eyes landed on Rin's chest, and he realized that Rin wasn't breathing. He was too tense, dammit, too tense. Yukio reached down and pressed lightly on his stomach, murmuring quietly under his breath, reminding Rin to breathe, shh, just breathe. Thankfully, Rin got the point, and gasped in uneven breaths.

There wasn't much else Yukio could do but help Rin breathe, trying to ignore the stares of his students at his back. Rin's eyes were shut, but Yukio could see how his eyes moved below them in erratic, random movements. The younger twin felt helpless as his brother suffered, only able to coax him through breathing and pet his hair softly. He couldn't em remember what his father had done to help Rin, and it frustrated him to no end.

"Sensei?" A voice asked quietly. He glanced over to see the students peering over at him, expressions twisted in varying levels of concern. Shima was the one who had spoken up, both he and Konekomaru glancing over Bon's shoulders. "Is... is Okumura-san gonna be okay?"

"He's having a seizure," Bon answered, and if it were any other situation, he would have applauded his student's quick mind. Right now, he was torn between worry for his brother, and relief that he didn't have to answer Shima's question. Honestly, he didn't know if Rin would be okay. Rin hadn't had any seizures since he was younger, so for one to pop up so suddenly meant something was wrong -- but he didn't know what.

"A seizure?" Konekomaru echoed.

Before anyone could even say anything, Rin's eyes flashed open, eyelids fluttering violently for a second before they stilled, leaving Rin looking straight up at the ceiling. Yukio realized he was holding his breath, and released it in a sigh, forcing a smile. "Hello, nii-san, how are you feeling?"

Rin glanced up at his younger brother. "What happened?"

Yukio's smile faltered. "...you had a seizure again, nii-san."

For a brief second, a look of frustration and disappointment crossed his expression. Yukio knew how much Rin hated his seizures, how they left him helpless for up to an hour. He must have detested this one even more, after going so long without them. The look left, however, replaced with tiredness. Rin's eyes closed again, and he rolled over, hiding his face in Yukio's thigh. "I'm tired," He murmured simply.

Yukio patted his brother's head softly, letting him rest. "Yes, nii-san, I'll take you back to the dorms in just a minute."

Rin didn't hear him, however, already passed out on Yukio's lap. The seizures always left Rin incredibly exhausted, and he often needed a day or two to rest from just a ten-minute episode, nevermind some of his worse ones. Rin would have slept for days on end if Father hadn't woken him up and made him eat and drink. Yukio made a mental note to drop by his brother's classes tomorrow and grab his work -- Rin wouldn't be there for a while.

"Hey, sensei," Bon prodded. Yukio looked up, and the meaning in Bon's expression was clear. Explain.

"Rin was always a violent child," Yukio explained quietly. "He's not bad at heart, he just has difficulty thinking with his head instead of his fists. Unfortunately, he acquired quite a lot of head injuries. He had a lot of seizures when he was younger, at least once a week, but they died off after a while. I didn't think they'd come up again."

"Well, why'd it happen again?" Izumo demanded, and he got the feeling she was just as irritated by her helplessness as he was.

If this was some sort of anime, Yukio would have sweat dropped at this point. But that was ridiculous.

"Well, uh... When we first found Father Fujimoto's familiar, Kuro, I told Rin to use his head for once, and he, um, took that a bit too literally," Yukio chuckled nervously.

Bon smacked his forehead, hissing out an 'idiot'. The sentiment was shared across the Esquires, similar thoughts and words among them. Yukio chuckled, knowing that it was all in good spirit. "Well, now that you all know what's going on..." He felt kind of bad asking for this, but...

"Could you help me get him back to the dorms?"

\-----

_The second time the Esquires saw Rin have a seizure, Yukio wasn't around._

\-----

The first few weeks after they first saw Rin's seizure, the Esquires had walked on eggshells around Rin. They constantly had their eyes on him, asked him how he was feeling, panicked and called Yukio every time he spaced out. Yukio attempted to lecture them, telling them that there really was no reason to hover around Rin so much. They were worried friends, of course, and completely ignored his lecture. Eventually Rin had snapped at them that he wasn't made of glass, and threatened to beat their heads in if they kept acting like that. Bon and Izumi had been quick to start an argument, but things returned to normal after a while.

Of course, it hadn't completely left their minds. It always lingered around, surfacing every once and a while -- and that was most likely a good thing. Around two months after the first episode, Rin was starting to space out again. This time, it was during regular classes, which meant it was just the Kyoto trio and Rin. Bon had noticed almost immediately when Rin started spacing out, despite the teacher addressing him multiple times. Konekomaru picked up when Rin started tapping the desk with those long fingernails, and at that point Bon had stood up.

"Sensei, may Okumura-kim and I be excused?" He asked, a tone of urgency in his voice. Their teacher blinked at the sudden question, glancing over Rin before looking back at Bon.

"Is there a reason why?"

But Bon was already moving, pulling Rin up by the armpits and dragging him out of class. Rin didn't even budge, didn't say a word, and that just increased Bon's panic. He need Okumura out of here before this got much worse. The teacher looked incredibly startled as Shima just laughed nervously and darted after Bon, leaving Konekomaru to come up with an excuse.

"Ah, uh, well, sensei, I, uh," Konekomaru stuttered, desperately searching for an excuse. "I... I'll tell you after class!" He squeaked before racing after the rest of the trio, accidentally slamming the door. Bon and Shima were not reacting very well to Rin's incoming seizure, the pinkette pacing around in a panic while Bon struggled to lower Rin to the ground. Thankfully, they were both panicking quietly, no one having come out of the other classrooms.

"How is Okumura-kun?" Koneko asked nervously.

"He's starting to go stiff," Bon hissed. "Dammit, what the fuck."

"I can't do this," Shima was muttering, pacing back and forth. "I'm not ready for this responsibility -- I can't handle seizures! What are we supposed to do?! Where is-"

"Hey, idiot, you wanna keep it down?" Bon snapped. "We don't want the entire school to know! That was the whole point of taking him out here!"

"Maybe we should just calm down and think this through," Konekomaru suggested weakly.

"He's already going stiff!"

"I can't do this-!"

"Shima, please-"

Bon's eyes caught the flash of silver on Rin's shirt, a little dog-tag like necklace that Yukio had forced him to wear. It had 'prone to seizures' written across, as well as Yukio's name and number, for emergencies. Rin had, at first, protested violently to wearing it -- 'it was just one time, dammit, he didn't need this!' -- but Yukio was insistent. Bon pursed his lips, before taking his phone out, having already made his decision. They couldn't handle this, so they would call the one person who would.

"I'm calling Yukio!"

\-----

  
_The third time the Esquires saw Rin have a seizure, it was thankfully in Cram class, and they were all there to help him._

\-----

  
He never told anyone, but Bon had taken to hiding a small pillow in his bookbag, for days when he was at school. After Rin's last seizure, when he had lightheartedly complained that his neck was aching, Bon had the idea of carrying around a pillow for the next time it happened. The others pitched in, as well. Shiemi researched different herbs to help naturally soothe the seizures, Izumo brought up her talent for massages ('What? My dad used to do a lot of heavy work! Don't judge me!'). Shima contributed by bringing a nice blanket for Rin, so that Yukio didn't have to rush back to the dorms. Konekomaru brought a few snacks, too.

Thankfully for Rin, they had avoided harping over him every waking minute, and had started to get used to his seizures. They had an idea of what to do, even two weeks after his last one. This time, when he started twitching, they were prepared, and simply laid Rin down on the floor. There was no way that they'd be able to keep on learning with Rin in this state, so they laid down with him -- even Izumo. They all simply stayed close, and it was clear how much their presence was affecting his state. He recovered from the seizure, and only took a day and a half to rest.

Thought he did try to stay home a day longer, claiming that he was still tired even though Yukio had caught him wrestling with Kuro.

\-----

 _The fourth time Rin had a seizure, it was their fault_.

\-----

"Bon, watch out!"

A crash echoed out in the classroom as a body was shoved into a cart full of holy weapons, bullets clattering onto the ground and glass shattering into pieces. Liquid was splattered all over the towels, and unfortunately, all over a certain half-demon. Konekomaru watched on with wide eyes as Bon shoved Rin into the shelf. Sure, he didn't like Rin, he was downright terrified of him, but there was holy water on that shelf! All Rin had done was touched his shoulder to get his attention, was that really necessary?

"Back the hell off, demon spawn!" Bon snapped. "You could've hurt him!"

But Rin wasn't looking at him, wasn't hearing him. He was frozen by that shelf, still in the same position as when Bon had shoved him. His eyes were wide, and his shirt and skin was completely soaked. Holy water dripped off of his arms and his clothes, even his tail, and it wasn't but a half second later that the suspicious smell of something burning. Even Bon paused when he saw Rin's skin turn red, and not but a second afterwards, his skin gave the appearance of peeling paper.

Their eyes widened when blood mixed with the water and poured down in rivulets off of his body. Bloody sores appeared on his skin, but still, Rin didn't move, didn't scream, didn't even breathe.

"Rin....?" Shiemi ventured hesitantly.

Before anyone could even think, the door to the. abandoned classroom was slammed open, and someone showed up in the doorway. Yukio looked breathless, gasping for air as he leaned on the doorway for just a second before his eyes rested on Rin. His body changed from exhausted to panicked before they could even blink. Yukio was over by Rin's side in an instant, reaching out to his brother. He had barely touched Rin, but even that was enough to draw a weak whimper from his older brother.

In a flash, Yukio had rounded on the Esquires, eyes narrowed and eyes full of rage. "Get out."

The group didn't move, still stunned. They stared at Yukio like he had three heads, not registering how close they were to being shot on the spot. Yukio's eyes narrowed, and he gritted his teeth.

"I said _GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!_ "

His raised voice and rare use of curse words was enough to startle the Esquires into moving, all of them filing out as quick as they could. None of them dared to throw a backwards glance, but Yukio couldn't even bring himself to feel guilty about his outburst. He was still seething with rage. How dare they attack his brother? What gave them the right to do this? Rin could have died from that! The water could've gotten in his mouth, or in his nose, or even his eyes! What the hell were they thinking!

He was broken from his thoughts when he saw a furious twitching from the corner of his eye, and looked over to see Rin's arm spasming something fierce. He felt panic bloom amongst the anger. He couldn't even touch Rin, how was he supposed to get him on the ground? Dammit, what the hell was he supposed to do?

The twitching was starting to become more violent, and he knew he was losing time.

In Yukio's panic, he eventually ended up calling Mephisto, and explained the situation to him, not even half legible. The line had gone quiet after he had managed to explain that Rin had been doused in holy water, before Mephisto quietly said that he would be there soon. As soon as he had hung up, Yukio speed dialed Shura and did the same. If it were any other situation, he would have been calm and composed -- it was what he prided himself on -- but this was Rin and as much as he hated it Rin was a half-demon and all he knew was how to kill demons and goddammit why didn't he prepare for this idiot idiot idiot-

Shura and Mephisto ended up getting there just in time for the most violent seizure Rin had in his life. His convulsing tore open the bloody sores on his skin, made his pale skin bleed and bleed and bleed all over the ground, made him cry out in pain even trapped in the depths of his mind like that. Yukio and Shura had barely been able to pin him down long enough for Mephisto to heal some of his sores, some sort of demonic medicine used to absorb holy water being applied lightly to his skin (It didn't seem like this was Mephisto's first time doing this)

Rin didn't wake up again that entire day. He went deep into what Mephisto said was a coma-like state, his body powering down to heal his wounds. Yukio had to take time off of work to stay home with his brother, wake him up so he could eat and drink and take care of his needs. He hated when he'd have to change Rin's bandages. Rin would always try to hide it, but he saw the tears in his older brother's eyes when he'd have to pull the gauze over those still reddened sores, over the torn and sensitive skin.

It took Yukio quite a long time to forgive the Esquires.

\-----

_The fifth time he had a seizure, it couldn't have been worse timing._

\-----

Bon swore to God, he was going to file a complaint with Mephisto. How many times now had Amaimon been able to break through the barrier and attack them? Three times? Four times? Whatever number it was, it was way too much! God, it was like every time they recovered from the last fight, Amaimon was there again! Didn't this guy have anything better to do than annoy them?

Bon quickly ducked behind a tree as he was swiped at, his thought process cutting off immediately when Amaimon had lunged at him. Konekomaru and Shima were in hiding in the dorms, searching the bible for some sort of verse to at least slow the Demon King down, which left Bon and the others to handle distracting him. Izumo and Shiemi had summoned their familiars to fight and took refuge somewhere safer, while Bon, Rin and Yukio attacked Amaimon head on.

Speaking of which -- Bon grunted as he propelled himself backwards, dodging another kick -- where the hell were the Okumura twins? He'd been fighting Amaimon on his own for the past minute (he mentally patted himself on the back for lasting this long) what were they doing?! In a risky move, he switched K'rik to his other hand and ducked under Amaimon's wild swing, stabbing the top of the staff into the Demon King's knee. The demon let out a cry of outrage, his leg buckling under him, but not before he sent a swarm of hobgoblins into Bon.

Ryuji grunted as he was thrown back on the ground, his breath leaving him in a huff. K'rik had been wrenched out of his hand by the blow, thrown somewhere to his left. He blinked a few times, gasping when he saw the Earth King lunge at him, a demonic look of rage on his face. Bon's eyes flashed over to K'rik, but it was too far. He wouldn't be able to get it in time. He squeezed his eyes shut, preparing himself for the attack, but-

Several gunshots echoed out, and he felt something warm and hot splatter over his face. He opened his eyes to see Amaimon clutching his shoulder, blood pouring from the wound. Bon grinned. Ah, so Yukio decided to join, huh?

"Why can't you pesky worms just die already?" Amaimon hissed, all joy gone from his look. "Every time I cut you down, more of you trash pop up!"

"Like hell! We wouldn't just keel over like that!" Bon snapped, grabbing Yukio's offered hand and pulling himself up. The two stood side by side, student and teacher.

"Fine," Amaimon growled lowly. "Then I'll make you!"

Nothing could have prepared them for the sudden swarm of hobgoblins that arose, demons of all sizes rushing towards them in a cloud. Yukio immediately began firing them down, while Bon chanted their fatal verse under his breath, stabbing and slapping any that came close. The demons distracted them from the real threat, which made it easy for Amaimon to sneak up behind them.

Bon let out a surprised cry as his legs were suddenly kicked out from underneath him. He swung K'rik behind him, trying to strike Amaimon, but his wrist was suddenly grabbed. A strangled grunt was wrenched from his lips when Amaimon crushed his wrist in his hand, forcing him to release the staff, but of course, he didn't stop there. Yukio was distracted by Bon's shout of pain as his wrist was shattered, but when he looked back, Bon was pinned to the ground, Amaimon's foot on his back. Amaimon had Bon's wrist in his hand, twisting his arm behind his back, just seconds from pulling it out of place.

"Now, little brother, drop the weapon, and I won't have to hurt Mr. Chicken here anymore," Amaimon said with a grin, but his words were low and dangerous. "I wouldn't want to have to permanently disfigure him."

Yukio had his guns aimed at Amaimon, but at that point, he wasn't confident in his chances. He hesitated, desperately searching for any other solution. That hesitation was all Amaimon needed, and Bon let out an embarassingly loud scream of pain as his arm was torn out of his socket, and he could feel tears in his eyes. Partially from pain, and partially because he couldn't believe he let himself be caught. His teacher was going to be hurt and it was his fault.

"Do you think I'm kidding, little brother? I'll rip his arm right off, you know," Amaimon said, and Yukio had no doubt that Amaimon would do just that.

He bit his lip, then reluctantly lowered his guns, sheathing them. He wasn't surprised at all when demons grabbed him, forcing him down to his knees. Bon was given the same treatment, a weak cry coming from his lips when Amaimon dropped his arm to the ground, only to be tackled by demons. Amaimon grinned victoriously, dusting his hands off.

"Now, where is my other little brother? We haven't played in quite a while, I miss him."

Somehow, Yukio doubted that.

He prayed to god that Amaimon didn't find Rin. He had been gone the first part of the battle because he was trying to hide Rin away. Rin he just been in the first stage of an episode when Amaimon appeared, and god knew where he was now.

"Ah! There you are!"

"Dammit," Yukio hissed under his breath, panic blooming in his chest.

"Hiding in the trees, are we?" Amaimon cooed. "I'll give you ten seconds to come out, I'll come find you myself and gut you. That sounds fair, right? Yes."

"Ten."

Yukio struggled against the demons, trying to wrench his arms free. Goddammit, he needed to help his brother.

"Nine. Eight. Seven."

His gun was just a little further.

"Six."

If he could just-

"Five, three, one. Ready or not, here I come!" Amaimon chirped. He disappeared, only to reappear by a thicket of trees. Yukio felt his blood run cold, knowing that Rin had been found. Amaimon looked down at his little brother, who was leaning up against the tree, completely still and eyes wide. The demon frowned, poking his brother in the head with a sharp nail. "Ne, ne, little brother, what are you doing? Are you asleep?"

He got down on his knee, leaning up into Rin's face. He squinted at Rin, poking him again. "Hey, pay attention to me." But Rin didn't move, didn't blink, didn't speak. Amaimon's eyebrows furrowed, eyes narrowing angrily. "You aren't ignoring me, are you? You know I don't like being ignored, little brother."

Rin still did nothing.

Amaimon grabbed Rin by the hair, yanking him up. "You're ignoring me, aren't you?"

Nothing.

Amaimon snarled, bringing his leg up and kicking Rin straight across the face. Rin was thrown back into another tree, his head cracking against the wood so loudly that even Yukio heard it. Amaimon stomped back over to Rin, looking thoroughly pissed off.

"I'll show you what happens when you ignore me!"

\-----

_The sixth time Rin had a seizure, it was in the hospital._

\-----

"Doctor! I need a doctor, please!"

Yukio's voice had long since left panicked and was well into the range of terrified at this point, his brother gripped tightly in his arms. Normally, he'd never be able to carry his brother, but adrenaline was pumping hard and fast through his veins. His heart jumped a beat when Rin's body convulsed again, his second seizure in the past hour and a half. His brother's hair was matted with blood, and was sure that his brother had at least one concussion, if not more. He didn't even want to get into the gashes and bruises and broken bones.

"Please! My brother's hurt, he needs help!" Yukio shouted, not even noticing when the other Esquire's finally arrived. Bon didn't look any better than Rin, but the others seemed fine. Thank god for small blessings.

A few nurses and doctors were over by his side quickly, and soon after a gurney was pulled up Rin was taken from his arms, and doctors pulled Bon along as well, already searching his arm and feeling for the broken bones. Rin was laid down on the gurney, and soon enough the sounds of yelling and shouting filled the emergency room. The doctors strapped his arms and legs down, shining lights in his eyes as he was wheeled towards the ICU.

"He's seizing!"

"I'm feeling spinal damage!"

"Multiple concussions! Get this kid hooked up!"

Yukio was utterly lost and confused in the thrall, allowing himself to be tugged along as a nurse grabbed his arm. His eyes were glued to his brother's form, torn and bloodied and bruised and not-

And not healing.

He wasn't healing.

"Are you family?" The nurse asked.

Yukio was quiet for a moment, before realizing that he was being spoken to. "I, yeah, I'm his- his brother."

"Were you there at the time of the incident? What happened?"

"He was... he was attacked, by a demon- Amaimon." The nurse cursed under her breath before letting him go, shoving him down in a chair outside the doors.

"Stay here. We'll keep you updated." He just nodded numbly, the panic having faded into numbness. His brother wasn't healing. Why wasn't he healing? Even unconscious, his flames should have healed him just fine. Was there something wrong with his brain? What happened to his head? He had a concussion, that much he knew. Multiple? Wasn't that dangerous? Wasn't there a name for that? What was wrong with his brother?

"Sensei...?"

He looked up to see the remaining Esquires standing next to him, all looking fearful and afraid. They had hardly seen what had happened- demons had ambushed them when they were too focused on Bon and Yukio. Shima looked the most scared, pale and shaking.

"Sensei? What's wrong with Rin?" Shima asked in a shaky voice. Yukio just stared at him with wide eyes, not even sure himself. Shima had to sit down, Shiemi next to him, on the verge of tears. Izumo was blinking rapidly, swallowing every few seconds. They knew something was very, very wrong. It suddenly hit them that Rin could very well be dying- and his last memory of the Esquires would be them turning their backs on him, calling him a demon, rejecting him after they had sworn that they would always be there for him.

His last memory would have been that they hated him.

\-----

_The seventh time Rin had a seizure, it was in surgery._

\-----

_The eighth time Rin had a seizure...._

\-----

"It's this thing called Second Impact Syndrome, and unfortunately there's just not anything we can do for him."

"I'm sorry."

\-----

_...he didn't open his eyes again._


	3. The Haunting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yukio knew that Rin wouldn't die easy, but he never would have suspected his brother would be vengeful enough for this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahaha, hey guys! Three months, ah? I'm really sorry, between school work and my bad habit of bouncing between fandoms, I've just... forgotten about this story? Just a little bit?
> 
> Anyways, I rediscovered this just earlier this week, and I REALLY liked my old writing (is that narcissistic of me?) and decided to continue this! I wrote this little songfic (my first one EVER) to get me out of my writing funk, and I have one more planned before I finally release the second chapter to the tamer!Bon/demon!Rin AU! Since you guys have been asking for it (and since, quite frankly, I love the idea) I've decided to write a second chapter!
> 
> As I was saying, this is my first songfic, and I'm still not sure if it's good or not ^^; Let me go ahead and get these tags/warnings out of the way before I run out of characters:
> 
> • This story is mainly Yukio x Shima!
> 
> • If you line up about a hundred microscopes and squint very, very harshly, you will see that there is just the barest hint of previous Okumuracest here. But that's it! It's very easy to overlook and ignore. Seriously, if the story was the atom, then the Okumuracest would be like the electrons! You hardly notice it!
> 
> (Btw, the song is The Haunting by Set It Off, and you guys should totally listen to it! All lyrics belong to them!)
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

To everyone who knew him, Yukio Okumura was... well, quite frankly, the ideal human being. He was attractive, he was kind, he was smart and fit. He was talented at just about everything he tried, and people loved him for it. He was at the top of just about every one of his classes, never scored a grade below a 90, and just a natural born leader. He was kind to all of his teachers, and never hesitated to take time out of his schedule to help a classmate. He was an eloquent speaker, and someone that people could truly count on -- the teenager that every parent wished they had.

To the order, he was calculating, he was level-headed, he was smart and kept his cool in even the most dangerous situations. He was the model exorcist, never failing a mission, accomplishing both Doctor and Dragoon at an age where most exorcists were still developing their one. He was trained by the very best, and in turn, he _became_ the very best. He was one of their best teachers, their best fighters, their best doctors. He embodied everything that every exorcist wanted to be, and everything that the higher-ups wanted their exorcists to be.

Nobody would have ever suspected that he had killed an innocent human.

 

**"Come on in, boy," said the skeletons,  
     Sitting by her closet door.**

 

Of course, that depended on who you asked. The boy that young Yukio had killed was none other than his own brother, a hated half-demon that most people couldn't even believe was related to Yukio himself. Yukio's brother, Rin, was a delinquent at best, and a demon at worst. He was infamous for his terrifying strength, his violent streak, his disrespect to anyone and everyone and his terrible grades. To those who knew him, he was kind, he was honest and naive, he cared too much, he was a talented cook and he would give the entire world up for Yukio.

 

**Dirty secrets, empty melodies,  
     And broken hearts across the floor.**

 

However, the world refused to acknowledge this gentler, kinder side of the demon twin, and thus turned a blind eye when Rin was found dead, a bullet in his head and betrayal in his eyes. Because as much as the world refused to acknowledge how kind Rin truly was, they chose not to see the jealous, cruel, sinful side of Yukio that hated Rin, hated his twin brother for something he had no part in, for something he couldn't control. The story that Yukio had created for how Rin had died was shoddy at best, but Yukio was one of their best exorcists, why would he ever lie to them?

 

**I was knocked out, heels over head,  
     So you dragged me by my feet,**

 

Coming back to the monastery to see his father- his _true_ father, the only one he cared for -dead on the ground... he snapped. It was all that stupid demon's fault. Shirō was the strongest exorcist that they had, the very best, the only one able to resist Satan's presence, and yet there he was, blood dripping from his nose, eyes, mouth, and broken fingers. It was obvious that he'd been possessed. Yukio's grief turned to rage, and suddenly he didn't care that Rin had been sobbing so brokenly over their -- no, _his_ father's corpse. Rin -- the demon -- was a danger to the Vatican and the world itself, and he needed to be erased from this earth.

So he put his gun up to Rin's head, and killed him, without even blinking.

 

**To a ghost town, where you buried me,  
     No wonder no one heard my screams,**

 

He never regretted killing Rin, not even once. He truly never felt regret nor remorse, he truly believed in his heart that Rin was nothing more than a filthy demon that had killed his father and ruined his life. In his mind, it was no different than getting rid of a particularly murderous hobgoblin.

 

**Love, so alive,  
     But it died in its sleep.  
And now that it's dead...**

 

The world forgot about Rin, forgot he ever even existed, even Yukio did, to an extent. Shirō was given a proper funeral, and no one ever found Rin's body -- not that they would have bothered with a funeral, anyways. Yukio never cared too much, just focused on his new upcoming role as an official teacher.

 

**I live in your head...**

 

He never would have suspected that Rin wasn't done with this world.

 

**And I will haunt your fucking dreams.**

 

Yukio jerked awake, breath catching in his throat and sweat plastering his hair to his forehead. He scrambled to get out of his bed, only to come face to face with a face he hadn't seen in weeks, one that he was sure he'd blown right back into Gehenna.

"Nii-san," He breathed without even really realizing what he was saying. Rin didn't look the same as the last time that Yukio had seen him. His older twin's entire body was an unnatural shade of white, almost transparent, and his brilliant blue eyes had changed to vacant, black holes. He wasn't even sure that it was his brother until he saw the gunshot exit hole on the being's forehead, one that he definitely recognized. He had put it there, after all.

" _Hey there, Yuki_ ," Rin greeted almost cheerily, but the faint undercurrent of anger was evident in his voice. " _Nice place you got here_."

That snapped Yukio out of his daze. He growled at his brother, face twisted into a snarl. "I killed you."

Rin grinned. " _Yeah, you did. I'm a ghost now, if you haven't noticed_." Yukio's eyes widened as Rin lifted his feet up and simply floated in the air, crossing his arms casually.

"Demons can't become ghosts," Yukio countered harshly. "They don't have souls."

" _True, true, and yet, I'm still here_ ," Rin floated on his back, looking at Yukio upside down as his grin widened to a frightening degree. " _So what does that say about you?_ "

 

**No one will love you like I did,  
     Will treat you like I did,  
So go on, wear that scarlet letter.**

 

Yukio could hardly even get a full night's sleep now. Whenever his eyes closed, his mind was overrun with unwanted memories, visions of when Rin had still been alive, when they were all happy. He'd be bombarded with memories of Rin defending him after fights, Rin cooking food for everyone at the monastery, Rin letting Yukio climb into his bed at night when the younger twin couldn't sleep -- images of the two sleeping so close together, some body part always touching because that was the only way they could get to sleep.

Worst of all was waking up after the dream, only to see Rin floating there, fanged grin wide and blackened eyes sending shivers down his spine.

" _Remember back then?_ " Rin would always ask, and Yukio would throw the covers over his head and squeeze his eyes shut until he managed to fall asleep, just to repeat the process over and over again.

 

**No one will love you like I did,  
     Will touch you like I did,  
So good luck finding something better.**

 

Soon enough, even his daily life was being invaded by Rin's ghost. At first, he would just hover around Yukio, following him around wherever he went, but after a week or so, that wasn't enough for Rin. It soon shifted to Rin giving comments about what he was doing- ' _So you're teaching now? Can't say I'm really surprised,' Rin glanced over at his students, at the way they listened with rapt attention and stared at him in awe. Rin grinned, then looked back at Yukio. 'They don't know, do they?_ '

 

**Run away, boy, if you couldn't tell,  
     Baby's got a thirst for blood,**

 

He could tell that his reputation was suffering, and badly. He was never seen without deep bruises under his eyes from a lack of sleep, and more often than not he was caught staring off into space, face flipping through a variety of expressions. He was always throwing an anxious glance over his shoulder, and people often had to call his name multiple times before he broke out of his stupor. He'd always smile and assure everyone that he was fine, but it was clear to everyone that something was very wrong.

 

**A subtle system, wicked melodies,  
     Craving bullets from her gun,**

 

For a long while, the Exwires refused to acknowledge that there could possibly be something wrong with their sensei. He was the strongest out of all of them, one of the strongest in the Vatican, what could possibly have shaken him so badly? Seeing Yukio try to act like everything was normal, trying to teach his classes like he always did and go on missions like he was supposed to, it helped them keep up their illusion that nothing was wrong. One student, however, was growing sick of keeping up this charade.

 

**So entranced they follow every word,  
     Little spirals in their eyes,**

 

As the students filtered out of Yukio's classroom, whether to the library, training, or simply back to their dorms, one of them stayed behind. Shima frowned as Yukio shuffled some papers in his hands, then looked over his shoulder, eyebrows furrowing as if someone was talking to him. Shima stepped forwards and up to his sensei's desk, looking at the other teen curiously. "Hey, teach?" He asked hesitantly. "You good?"

Yukio's head jerked around to face him, and he saw Yukio's eyes widen before he smiled. "Of course, Shima, I'm fine. Was there something you needed?"

 

**Catch a lover,**

 

"Ah, actually..." Shima scratched the back of his head, trying to find some way to phrase what he was trying to say. "You've been kind of a space case lately, and I can tell you're not getting any sleep, either. So, I'm just gonna cut the b.s right here and assume that something _is_ wrong."

 

**Turn an enemy,**

 

For a long second, Yukio just stared at Shima, as if he was really processing what Shima had just said. At the moment, it was all too much for him. He wasn't seeing Shima anymore, no, he was seeing his brother, back when Rin was alive. He felt tears dripping down from his eyes without his permission, Shima letting out a startled yelp when he saw them. He glanced around wildly for hints as to what exactly he was supposed to do before groaning, awkwardly pulling himself up on his teacher's desk. He reached over to Yukio, hesitated, then pulled the other teen close, somehow ending up hugging the upper half of his body. It couldn't have been comfortable, but Yukio latched on to Shima's shirt and let out a heart-wrenching sob, and suddenly he didn't care anymore.

Neither noticed the ghost watching them from the corner of the room, eyes shadowed as his grin widened.

 

**Just to watch them burn alive.**

 

Yukio knew that it was probably against some sort of rule that he was so close to one of his students, but he couldn't bring himself to care. When he was with Shima, he didn't have to think, he didn't have to worry about the ghost of the brother -- the demon he had killed. He could just relax, just rant and rave about everything that crossed his mind, and when he didn't feel like talking, Shima didn't push it. It was a friendship he didn't know he needed until he had it, and he didn't think he'd ever stop being grateful that he did.

 

**No one will love you like I did  
     Will treat you like I did,  
So, go on, wear that scarlet letter.**

 

He wasn't sure when exactly he had started to fall for him, though. Maybe it was when Shima had first comforted him that one day, or maybe when Shima had tried (and failed) to make him lunch after a particularly trying mission, or when Shima had started letting him sleep over when he couldn't handle sleeping- if it could even be called that -back at his own dorms. No, he wasn't quite sure when, but when Shima had asked him out one day, he didn't have to think that long to decide that yes, he'd very much like to date Shima.

 

**No one will love you like I did,  
     Will touch you like I did,  
So good luck finding something better.**

 

For a while, Yukio was hopeful. Things were working out with Shima -- far better than he ever could have expected. He was able to sleep a little bit more, catch up on the lessons he had been missing, enjoy being around his friends and just live life. He was hopeful, he was starting to think that just maybe, maybe Rin had done all he wanted, that he would just go away peacefully now. Maybe Rin would just let him enjoy living.

 

**Someday you may find  
     that picture perfect guy.**

 

Yukio smiled contently, leaning back against the dresser in Shima's room. He was helping his boyfriend- his heart fluttered happily -study for school. It was becoming a rather common occurrence, as the awkwardness in their new relationship was starting to melt away, and Shima no longer felt so hesitant about setting aside his pride and asking Yukio for help. Shima himself was leaned against the bed, not too far away, one hand laced together with Yukio's as he gnawed absently on his pencil and flipped through pages of his book.

 

**And I'll chase my words with poison.**

 

"Hey, Yuki?"

Yukio looked up at Shima, smiling pleasantly. "Yeah?"

"Didn't you used to have a brother?" Shima asked, and in that split second Yukio felt his blood run cold. He noticed movement just beyond Shima's shoulders, and glanced over to see Rin's ghost hovering just beside Shima. Yukio's breath caught in his throats when he saw Rin grinning at him, then leaned towards Shima's ear and whispered something to the boy. "I remember hearing something about another Okumura back in middle school." Shima mused, and it didn't take a genius to realize that Rin was spreading seeds of doubt in Shima's mind.

 

**Until that day arrives  
     And swine take to the sky...**

 

Yukio opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "H-He's... he's dead."

Shima's eyes widened, and he quickly moved to fix himself. "Shit, sorry, I didn't know, I-"

"It's alright," Yukio said with a soft smile. He tried to refrain from looking up at Rin as the ghost giggled, acting as if nothing had happened. "Like you said, you didn't know."

They fell back into a comfortable quiet, interrupted only by the flipping of books and the scratching of pencils against paper. Yukio pretended to read his own book, but on the inside, his mind was an utter whirlwind. He was wrong. He was so very wrong. How could he have thought that Rin would just let this go? He didn't know what his brother's ghost was planning, but he could already tell that whatever it was, it wasn't going to end well -- and there wasn't anything he could do to stop it.

"How did he die?" Shima asked after a few moments.

Yukio gulped, hoping Shima hadn't noticed. "He, uh. Demon attack."

 

**Fill your void with open thighs, so-**

 

Yukio's eyebrows practically raised to his hair line as Shima skidded to a stop in front of him, panting harshly before he sucked a deep breath in, and looked up at Yukio.

"You killed him," Shima growled. His eyes were narrowed with accusation, with hints of hatred and disgust and disbelief. "You killed your own brother!"

 

**No one will love you like I did,  
     Will treat you like I did,  
So, go on, wear that scarlet letter.**

 

"He was a demon!" Yukio protested, voice rising in pitch with his growing desperation. He thought Shima would understand. He thought everyone would understand. He had done the right thing, hadn't he? "He was the son of Satan himself! He was a danger to everyone!"

"How the hell does that justify _killing_ your own _brother_?!" Shima snapped, expression contorted with rage. "He had a right to life, just like anyone else!"

"He would've hurt people! It was better to end it before he could attack anyone!"

"Who the hell gave you the right to decide that?!" Shima yelled furiously. "We're exorcists, not God! We don't get to decide who deserves life and who doesn't! And it's a damn good thing we don't, because using _your_ logic, _you_ should be killed too, given that _you're the son of Satan just as much as he was!"_

 

**No one will love you like I did,  
     Will touch you like I did,  
So good luck finding something better.**

 

Yukio slumped against the doorway of his room, sliding down to the floor. He realized absently that he was crying, small little rivers of tears tracing their way down his cheeks, but he hardly even noticed it over the horrible tightness in his chest. It was a terrible mix of heartbreak and betrayal, simultaneously twisting and ripping his heart. He let out a choked sob, clutching at the coat over his chest. Shima's words had hurt, God, had they hurt. ' _I'm sorry_ ,' His boyfriend- no, his ex boyfriend, he reminded himself -had said as he walked away. ' _I can't love someone who would so readily turn his back on someone else for something they can't help_.'

 

**No one will love you like I did,  
     Will treat you like I did,  
So, go on, wear that scarlet letter.**

 

" _Hurts, doesn't it?_ " Rin grinned. " _When someone who you'd given damn near everything for turns their back on you_."

Yukio didn't even bother looking up at his brother's ghost, just staring blankly at his knees as tear tracks dried on his cheeks. Rin's grin widened even more, a cheshire smile sprawling across his face as he leaned over Yukio, hand snapping out and grabbing Yukio's neck. The exorcist let out a choked yelp as his breathing was suddenly constricted by a very tight hand, claws digging into his neck. He scratched at Rin's hand, trying to pry it away, but his fingers went right through -- he couldn't touch Rin.

He froze as Rin leaned in close, his voice a low hiss.

" _You know nothing of betrayal_ ," Yukio's eyes widened at the utter animosity in the ghost's voice, tears spilling once again from turquoise eyes. " _This? This is nothing. This doesn't even compare to what you made me feel. You stole my life away from me. You took away any chance that I had of living normally, of having friends, of having a goddamn future. You. Stole. That. From. Me_."

"I'm sorry!" Yukio shrieked. He'd lost his self-control a long time ago, his newfound guilt and grief and heartbreak rushing forth and breaking down his barriers. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

 

**No one will love you like I did,  
     Will fuck you like I did,**

 

Rin chuckled. " _No, you're not_ ," He replied nonchalantly. " _But don't worry, little brother..."_

 

**So good luck finding something better.**

 

_**"You will be."** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Formatting is a bitch, ugh.


	4. You're Pretty Pathetic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin is a complete idiot, but she can't exactly say that she wasn't expecting that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I was planning on something BonRin, but I kept scrapping everything I came up with! So I decided to write something for my other favorite Rin ship: Rin x Izumo! I think I'm gonna try for updating on Wednesdays and Saturdays -- we'll see how that works! Also, be sure to check the notes at the end of the chapter! I have a very important note considering the Tamer AU fic!

His alarm clock shows that it's around 5pm now, and he knows that the Cram Classes are already in full swing. He knows he should be there, should be sitting in a school desk instead of the one at his dorms, should be staring at the board in boredom and just barely scraping by in his classes, but he's not. No, he's at the dorms, alone. His half-assed attempt at doing some homework to make up for it is sprawled across his desk, covered in answers that don't even make sense to him. He offhandedly wondered if he could just ask a classmate for help, but the thought just made him sigh quietly.

He leans his head against the edge of the table, feeling the familiar itch on his nose as his vision starts to blur. He knows why he can't ask any of them for help. They're all either terrified, or they hate him. Probably a mix of both, especially in Bon's case. He doesn't want to go to the Cram School, either, doesn't want to progressively sink lower in his seat as his back prickles with the glares and stares of his classmates. He doesn't want to have to sit there, struggling with work while ignoring Yukio's disappointed looks shot his way.

"Real pathetic of me," He scoffs, feeling the tears spill over, but he doesn't care. He's home alone, where he can be as emotional as he wants and no one has to see. "Hiding away in my room because I can't face them..."

"You're right, it _is_ pretty pathetic."

He jerked his head up when he heard the voice break the quiet of his room, spinning around in his chair to see who had invaded his room. He comes to a sudden stop when he sees Izumo, standing there in the middle of his room with a hand on her hip, a scowl on her face as if _he_ was the one intruding in someone's personal space. He was utterly stunned -- what was _Izumo_ , one of the top students in the class doing _here_? It was nowhere near time for the classes to get out!

"What are you doing here?" She demanded suddenly.

His eyes widened in pure surprise. "What am _I_ doing here? I should be asking you!"

"Don't avoid my question." She snapped, eyes narrowing.

He was too surprised to answer her question at first, but as his senses finally came back to him, he scowled, looking back down at his feet. "I'm skipping class."

"Well, obviously," She retorted, crossing her arms. "I mean, _why_?"

"Why do you even care?"

"Because you're being pathetic and moody and it's pissing me off! Every time I see you, you're sulking, you're not even _trying_ at your school work anymore, and now you're skipping class!" She snapped angrily, and Rin was once again thrown back by how angry she was. "So why don't you just cut the crap, save yourself some trouble, and tell me what's wrong!"

He clenched his fists on his lap, scowling darkly.

"Fine," He spat. "I'm not going because I'm sick of it. I'm sick of those damn classes!" He snapped his head up to glare Izumo right in the eyes, and suddenly he didn't even care that he was crying because he was angry and he couldn't pretend to be happy anymore. "I'm sick of everyone glaring at me when they think I'm not looking! I'm sick of trying to be nice and cordial when all they do is throw it back in my face! I know I'm the son of Satan and all but that- that doesn't mean that I-" There was a lump in his throat and he could barely even see through the tears. "That doesn't mean that I have to _like_ it."

Izumo was quiet now, and he squeezed his eyes shut, bowing his head again. He was surprised Izumo hadn't left already, but surely she would leave now.

"I, for one, never really cared that you were the son of Satan, and it's pretty dumb that everyone else does," Her voice was quieter this time, and he faintly heard her footsteps along the floor, before his chair was suddenly spun around. He heard a dull _thunk_ , and looked up so see that Izumo had perched herself on his desk. Her arms were crossed and her eyes were closed, but her expression lacked that haughty look.

"It's like saying that the son of a murderer is automatically going to become a murderer when he grows up, just because his dad is," She continued. "That's stupid. And as for the half demon thing, if you think you're the only one in the order with a demon parent, then, well, you're dumber than I thought." At his dumbfounded stare, she rolled her eyes, but kept talking. "Demons breeding with other species is more common than you think. There's even demon groups whose entire existence depends on it."

"But..." As much as he wanted to accept this, as much as he wanted to just hug the life out of Izumo (the only one who truly, wholly and truly didn't care that he was the son of the king of demons), a nagging part of him said that this was all just because she hadn't seen everything. "The flames, they-"

"As far as I'm concerned, they're _your_ flames, not his."

"But I could hurt someone!" He insisted.

"Have you?" She opened her eyes, quirking an eyebrow.

He blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Have you hurt someone yet?" She repeated.

"Well... no, but-"

"If I worried about everything that _could_ happen, I'd go insane," She sighed, crossing her legs. "As far as I care, you've only ever used those flames of yours to protect us, so- hey, are you crying again?"

Rin couldn't help but laugh, wiping at the tears that streamed down his cheeks. "Sorry, I just- you're the only one who- dammit, not even Yukio, he still hates me, but I-" He wasn't really even making sense anymore, a whole jumble of words trying to come out at once but making absolutely no sense to anyone when they did. He let out a frustrated groan. "I'm not even-"

Suddenly there was a hand tugging at his chin, and his eyes widened as something soft pressed against his lips -- was Izumo _kissing him_? He's frozen for a second- it's his first kiss, what the hell is he supposed to do? -but he leans in hesitantly. Thankfully, Izumo quickly takes control, slipping a hand into his hair and pulling him closer. Before he can even freak out about what the hell he's supposed to do, Izumo's pulled back already and crossed her arms, glaring at him even through the flush on her cheeks. He knows for sure that he's beet red but he can't help but smile.

"Even when kissing," Rin giggles. "You're as pushy as always!"

She rolls her eyes and huffs, flush deepening. "Whatever! You were doing that pathetic blubbering again -- I had to shut you up _somehow_!"

"You just don't wanna admit that you like me!" He teases, not even noticing that his tears had stopped, his thoughts from earlier disappearing.

"Shut up! It's not like you were any better with your dumb crush on Moriyama!" She retorts, and Rin may not be the smartest person in the world, but he hears the question in her words, sees the look in her eyes. _Do you still like her?_

"Speaking of Shiemi, I hear she's working up the nerve to finally confess to Yukio." He answers, and she gets his meaning. _Not anymore._

"You think he's gonna ask her out?" _Do you like me, too?_

He smiles. "He's been so busy lately, I don't think he's even thought about romance." _Neither have I_. "But I'm sure he'll come around after a while, once he finally gets his head out of his ass."

She hums for a second, and he can see that she understands. She doesn't look too happy about it, but she understands, and Rin couldn't be more grateful. He'd been so caught up in the whole "heritage being forcefully revealed" thing to really focus on romance or crushes or anything (he never thought anyone would like _him_ , either), but Izumo is cute, and even though she's a hardass most of the time, she's not a hardass who doesn't care. He never really thought about dating her (he never would have guessed she was interested) but the more he thinks about it, the more he thinks that it wouldn't be such a bad idea.

She looks down at his desk, seemingly just now realizing that she was sitting on his schoolwork. She didn't seem to care much, just picking one of the sheets up from next to her hip and looking at it critically. "You're not planning on turning this in, are you?"

All the answer she gets is a sheepish chuckle.

Izumo purses her lips, then sighs.

"Well, while I'm here, I might as well make you get some work done."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! So I'm sure all of you remember the Tamer AU oneshot that I wrote a while, I think it was the second chapter? I'm not sure, but anyways! I'm thinking about maybe making it an entirely separate story! I have a few plot ideas, and I wouldn't mind making it it's own story. Go ahead and leave any thoughts or questions you have!


	5. And The One Time He Did

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The three times Ryuji refused to accept it and the one time he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So here's that Bon x Rin one that I meant to upload earlier, but ah... issues, lmao. Anyways! I am going to be moving the Tamer AU fic into it's own story as well as post the second chapter to it, so be sure to check that out! As for the two of you who requested fics, do not worry! I haven't forgotten about you two! I will be getting around to your fics asap, I promise.

For as long as Ryuji could remember, everything was very black and white for him. People were either good, or bad. There was no blended area, no places where the lines mixed, no situation where you couldn't tell one from the other -- no, in his mind, things, and people, were good, or bad. When he grew into the word of the supernatural, it was still just as clear to him. Exorcists were the good, and demons were bad. Exorcists were saviors and protectors, demons were sinners and destroyers, pests to be destroyed.

When he and the rest of the Exwires figured out that their friend, Rin, was actually a half-demon, and the son of Satan, at that, he tried to convince himself that it was the same. Even if Rin was half human, he was the offspring of the worst demon in existence, and those damn blue flames were evidence of that. He told himself that Rin was a demon, that he was just as bad as every other demon that they came across, that he had just come to True Cross to manipulate and deceive them. Eventually, he began to believe it.

He supposed it didn't help much that the Exwires carried a similar mindset to him. Konekomaru and Shiemi were utterly terrified of him and his power, and rightfully so. Izumo didn't like anybody in their class, unsurprisingly, and Ryuji's own opinion was blatantly obvious. Shima just went along with everyone else, not outright harassing Rin like Ryuji, but not standing up for him, either. He didn't care how Shima felt, as long as he didn't associate with the demon spawn.

Ryuji was starting to get pissed again, just thinking about it. It was blatantly obvious to everyone that Rin was a danger to everyone around him, and yet they were still being assigned to a mission with him! Okumura-sensei had told him that they were orders from higher up, so there wasn't anything he could do about it, but that hardly made him less angry. The higher ups should have been chaining Rin up, not sending him on missions with Exwires.

Ryuji fumed quietly in his seat, glaring furiously out the window of his train seat. Shima and Konekomaru were sitting in the seat across from him, but thankfully, they had enough brains to realize that he wanted to be left alone. Izumo and Shiemi were sitting off in some seat behind them, and Yukio and the demon were up in the seat in front of him. He scowled, eyes narrowing. Dangerous demons like that shouldn't even be allowed on the train, what with all the innocents nearby.

His irritation simmered through the entire trip, fingers tapping irritatedly on the armrest as he wondered if half-demons like the older Okumura had fatal verses. He'd have to look more into it.

"We've arrived," Okumura-sensei's voice broke through his angry thoughts, and it was then that he realized that the train had stopped. Ryuji scowled as he stood up, forcing himself not to look at the seat in front of him as he reached up to grab his bags from the overhead compartment. Being the tallest, he handed Konekomaru and Shima their bags first before reaching back to grab his own. He roughly yanked it forwards, too caught up in his own thoughts to realize that the bag had started to tip over the edge.

"Shit-" His eyes widened, but before the bag could fall, an arm shot out and caught it easily. Ryuji looked over to see who had caught it, only be met with a bright grin.

"You should be more careful! You're totally gonna end up having a heart attack one of these days!" Rin laughed.

Ryuji felt the thanks die on his lips, and once he finally got his wits about him he snatched his bag from Rin's hands with a scowl, voice cracking like a whip. "I didn't need your help, demon."

Rin flinched as if Ryuji had physically hit him, eyes wide with an emotion Ryuji didn't want to acknowledge. He just growled lowly and marched away, shoving the confrontation to the back of his mind and replacing it with thoughts of the mission. They were going to spend the night at a hotel, and the entire way there, Rin was quiet, staring at the ground and only speaking when he was spoken to. Which wasn't very often, as of then, Yukio was the only one who really talked to him, and even then, it seemed cold and detached.

Later that night, as everyone was heading to bed and Ryuji was going out for a quick walk to calm his nerves, he walked past Yukio.

"You should be kinder to your classmate," Yukio called out after him, turning around in his chair to face Ryuji. "Being hateful towards Rin will only cause problems in the future."

"What, so I'm supposed to just hide it behind a cold smile, like you?" Ryuji had snapped. Later, he would feel a little apologetic about talking to his teacher in such a way, but at the moment, he was still just as pissed as he was earlier that day -- thus, the walk. "Don't act like you're so much better than we are, sensei. You hate him just as much as we do."

Yukio looked utterly shocked by what Ryuji had said, and that only further convinced Ryuji that what he had said was true. He scoffed, opening up the door to their joined hotel rooms.

"I'll be back in an hour." He muttered, closing the door behind him.

As he walked around the hotel, in the quiet of the night, his mind ran back through the confrontation on the train earlier that day. Yukio's words -- although they were complete bullshit, in Ryuji's mind -- had made him think about what had happened, and more specifically, Rin's reaction to his own words. He begrudgingly decided that Rin was absolutely too much of an idiot to have been able to fake a reaction like that (his mind flashed back to Rin, eyes wide with hurt and betrayal), as much as he hated to admit it.

Okay, so maybe Okumura was just a little less of a demon than he originally thought.

 

++++++++++

 

Even though he had admitted that, he still firmly believed that Rin was nothing more than a threat to all of them.

It was weeks past the confrontation on the train, and the Exwires were on another mission, a simple one to exterminate a nest of demons interfering with construction work. He gripped Shima's staff tightly, rushing through the demon's fatal verses as fast as his lips could move, slashing any demon that dared get close enough. Konekomaru and Shima were back behind a wall created by Shiemi's summon, reciting any scripture they could remember to possibly help him.

He grunted as he slashed through a few more hobgoblins, and as he finished their verse the ones circled around him turned to ash. Even so, there were still hundreds more of them to get rid of, and even though they were all weak, they had the advantage of numbers. Ryuji, Rin, Yukio and Izumo's familiars could only do so much against the demons. Rin wasn't much help with his sword still sheathed, Yukio would run out of bullets soon, and Ryuji's muscles were already burning, throat dry and painful from speaking for so long.

He finished the verse once more, and some more demons disintegrated, but as soon as they were gone more took their place. He tried his hardest to bat them away, but his movements were becoming sluggish and slow no matter how much his panicked mind shrieked at them to move. He felt something latch on to his leg and sink its teeth into the skin, and he swung the staff down to get rid of it, but in the time it took to do that, another grabbed his shoulder and three more tackled the staff.

Ryuji heard a shout from somewhere to his left, but he was too busy throwing away demons and shouting fatal verses as fast as he possibly could. He didn't notice the quiet _fwoosh_ until the demons around him burst into blue flames, letting out horrendous shrieks as they burned and turned to ash. He scrambled away from the flames as fast as he could, falling right on his ass, eyes wide and heart rate picking up furiously. The flames died off as quickly as they appeared, leaving behind piles of ash and burning demons.

He stared at the ground for a good minute, panting harshly, too thrown by his fear to notice the chanting from behind him.

"...and on the unjust," As Shima finished the chanting, the demons that had been clinging to his arm and staff disintegrated as well. "Hey, Bon, you good?"

With the combined efforts of Konekomaru and Shima, they managed to pull him up, and once he was standing Kokeko waved a hand in front of his eyes, looking concerned. "Uh, Bon? Are you alright? Did you get hurt or something?"

Ryuji broke out of whatever trance he was in, but he didn't even bother to answer the two before he felt an incredible rush of rage. Ignoring the straining and complaining of his sore muscles, he marched right over to where Yukio, Rin and Izumo were standing. Yukio glanced up as he got closer, asking if he was injured, but he ignored his teacher, reaching forward and grabbing Okumura by the collar.

"Are you fucking _stupid_?!" Ryuji snapped. "Do you have some sort of disorder we don't know about? Some mental deficiency?"

Rin's eyes were wide with confusion. "B-Bon- what the hell are you talking about?"

Ryuji released one hand to point at the light blue flames that still flickered on the ground, as if that had answered the question. Rin frowned, reaching up to grab Ryuji's remaining hand.

"You guys were getting overwhelmed! I was just helping!" Rin protested.

"You could've killed us!"

"Nii-san, you know those flames are dangerous. Ryuji is right, you could have seriously hurt someone." Yukio added, arms crossed and expression firm.

Rin looked at both of them incredulously, then back at the other Exorcists. Shiemi, Shima and Kokeko avoided his gaze, while Izumo glared off somewhere else, exasperated with this whole situation. Again, Rin flinched, looking down at the ground, but unlike last time, he didn't just slink away quietly -- no, he looked back up at Yukio and Ryuji, eyebrows furrowed.

"Do you guys seriously have such little faith in me?" He sounded offended as he asked, but Ryuji, in that moment, couldn't care less.

"Can you blame us?!" Ryuji and Yukio said at the same time, Ryuji's voice an angry shout, Yukio's a disappointed sigh.

Rin's eyes narrowed suddenly, and before any of them could have stopped him, he reached down to his sword, drawing it just enough so that the flames released. Ryuji's eyes widened again, but before he could move, there was an explosion of blue flames, encompassing all seven of them. Shiemi screeched somewhere, and Shima let out a surprised yelp at the same time. He squeezed, waiting for the flames to burn him alive. He should have known Rin was too dangerous. He should have known Rin couldn't be trusted, but he had been stupid, and now he was-

He was-

Not... burning alive?

He was fine?

Ryuji slowly opened his eyes, and saw blue flames dancing in his arms. He glanced down to see the same flames curling around his torso and legs. Behind him, the others must have been doing the same, because he heard a quiet "what the...?" from Shima, and suspicious silence from the rest of the Exwires and their teacher. Against his will, he found himself looking back up at Rin, only to come face to face with a furious glare. For once, Rin looked angry with them. Well and truly angry, infuriated, even.

Rin scoffed, and Ryuji's grip had weakened enough for him to pull his hand off of Rin's dirtied shirt.

"Yes," He growled lowly. "Yes, I can blame you."

He turned on his heel, shoulders tense and tail moving side to side in clipped, agitated motions. The Exwires were too dumbfounded to follow after him, and Yukio just sighed, arms falling to his side.

The Exwires were forced to admit that Rin... wasn't as dangerous as they had assumed.

 

++++++++++

  
The Exwires were quiet in class for the next few days. The incident with Rin had forced them all to rethink their opinions on him, on whether or not he was as demonic as they had originally thought. They all walked on eggshells around Rin, who hadn't even bothered trying to talk to them like he used to. He was oddly quiet most of the time, just staring at the board blankly during lectures, hardly even eating during lunch, avoiding all of them after school, not even talking to _Yukio_ anymore -- they couldn't even pretend like nothing had changed.

They were all lost deep in thought, Ryuji in particular. He didn't know what he was supposed to do with this new information. It didn't fit into his morals, not at all. He didn't know what to think here. Demons were supposed to be terrible, awful creatures that only wanted destruction. Demons only used people until they no longer needed them, and either tossed them away or killed them. They didn't have emotions other than lust, greed and the burning need to destroy.

But...

Rin was... Rin was none of that. Rin was too stupid to be a demon, frankly. He wore his heart on his sleeve, he only ever saw the best in people, he destroyed to save, he fought to protect, he was more selfless than most _humans_ Ryuji knew. Rin never had anything to gain by being around them, and even if he did, the second they had turned on him, he should have left. But he didn't. He stayed, he tried to so hard to stay friends with them, sacrificed his pride and his time to prove to them that he was the same Rin he always was.

Demons didn't do that, and yet, Rin did.

Rin should have been the worst of them all. Being the son of Satan himself, the angel cast from heaven, the worst demon of all -- even though Rin was half human, he still should have been worse than most every demon combined. He should have been angry that he was treated in such a way, and even though Rin was angry, it was for all the wrong reasons. Rin was angry because they didn't trust him. Why would a demon give a damn about something like trust?

Ryuji sighed quietly, shoving his hands into his pockets. He still had no idea what to make of all of this. The walk he'd gone out on wasn't helping much at all, he was just as confused about everything as he was just an hour ago. His mind was telling him that Rin was a demon and not to be trusted, but his heart was telling him that Rin was only _half_ of a demon, that he was half human, too. He'd been born to a human, grew up as a human, just as oblivious to all of this as they were.

He looked up to see that he was back by the abandoned boys' dorms -- besides the Okumuras, of course. Speaking of the Okumuras, Yukio was supposed to be there today, right? He had told them in class just yesterday that he had the weekend off and was able to help any of them with school work if they needed. Ryuji took in a deep breath, then decided. He was going to ask Yukio to help clear all of this up.

He made a beeline for the dorms, getting through the gates and the demonic wards easily. He offhandedly wondered if the wards hurt Rin, before he shook the thought off. He'd save that for later, when he was finally in front of Yukio.

He pushed the front doors open lightly, poking his head in.

"Hey, uh, Okumura-sensei?" He called out, but there was no answer. He decided to let himself in, closing the door behind him, leaving him in the dead silence of the abandoned boys dorms. He felt a shiver run down his spine, frowning slightly. This wasn't exactly... normal, for the Okumura's dorms. Normally, Rin would be running around chasing Kuro, or cooking something in the kitchen. If neither of those, he could usually hear the annoyed groaning that told him Rin was working on schoolwork, and the quiet scolding form Yukio that told him Rin probably wasn't doing very well at it.

He took a few steps further into the dorms, and it was there that he finally heard it. What sounded like a voice, something like... some music, he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Something was tugging him towards it, though, pulling him towards the sound of the voice. He didn't know where he was walking, or why he was heading up the stairs, he was just moving on instinct. By the second flight of stairs he could make the voice out, somewhat, and he realized that the music was some sort of guitar.

"...broke your throne... your hair...."

He raced up the third flight of steps, ears straining to find the source of the voice. He heard the familiar plucking of strings -- he recognized that song.

"...from your lips... drew the hallelujah..."

By the time he had gotten up the third flight, the singing had dissolved to the quiet humming of the chorus, the sound of strings echoing out as they were played. Bon came to a stop just before the fourth- and final -flight of stairs, panting from running up all of them. He forced himself to calm down, get a hold of his breathing and chill. The person up on the roof hadn't heard him yet, and that same part of him whispered for him to be quiet, otherwise he'd spook the person up there. He still had no idea who the person was, or why every part of his being screamed at him to find them.

Once his breathing was back under control, he crept up the stairs quietly, trying to keep as silent as possible. He could hear the singing again -- the third verse.

"...I've been here before, I've seen this room and I've walked this floor..."

He was at the door now, and he felt as if he vaguely recognized the voice, somewhere in his mind. His curiosity pushed him forwards, closing a hand around the doorknob that lead to the roof and turning it as quietly as possible. His blood ran cold as he realized that Rin was sitting down just a few feet beside the door, but Rin hadn't noticed him, more focused on the guitar on his lap.

Rin was leaned up against the wall surrounding the roof, Kuro curled up next to him as he plucked at the strings on the guitar (he supposed that those claws were perfect for that). The half-demon was staring at something on the ground, eyes blank, but his fingers hit each string with precision that spoke of hours of practice.

"There was a time when you let me know, what was really going on below..." Rin murmured, pausing as a note rang out sourly. He frowned just a bit, adjusted his fingers and then tried again, the note coming out clearly. He picked up the chord again, glancing down at the claws pulling at the strings. "But now you never show that to me, do you?"

Ryuji leaned against the doorframe, utterly entranced as he listened and saw Rin play. Rin's voice was good, great even, but what really had goosebumps rising on his skin was the _tone_. Out here, alone, Rin's entire soul was bared, and even though his words were quiet, they were filled with emotion. Ryuji was suddenly hit with the feeling that he was intruding, that he was trespassing in on a moment no one was supposed to be seeing, but he was rooted to the spot.

"Maybe there's a God above, but all I've ever learned from love was... how to shoot someone who outdrew you."

For the longest time, he'd really only ever seen Rin happy. Rin always seemed to find something to be happy about, even when his secret was ripped away from him and revealed to everyone, even when they all turned their backs on him, he always found some reason to smile. Some part of him said that he should be happy. The demon was suffering, he should be laughing and enjoying this, this should be the highlight of his day. But... this didn't feel right, this wasn't the Rin he knew.

No, that wasn't true. This was always Rin, he had just been too blind to see it.

"And it's not a cry you hear at night, it's not someone who's seen the light," The volume of the chords got louder as the verse crescendoed. "It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah."

Rin's head bowed as the notes decrescendoed, but the notes dropped off sharply as he gripped the fretboard tightly. Kuro let out a short meow as he woke up, sensing Rin's distress as he stretched and stood up. The cat nudged the guitar until Rin picked it up and set it to the side, climbing up into his lap butting his head against Rin's stomach. Rin's arms curled around Kuro as he pressed his face to his fur, and the cat purred furiously to comfort him.

Ryuji was just planning to leave, not wanting to intrude on this moment anymore, but then Kuro raised his head and saw him. His eyes widened and he make a shushing motion at the cat, but Kuro narrowed his eyes and hissed. Rin's head jerked up and before Ryuji could even move, Rin had spotted him. His eyes were wide, tears leaving tracks down his cheeks.

"I, uh..." Ryuji coughed into his hand, face flush at being caught. "I was just... y'know, looking for Okumura-sensei..."

It was bullshit reasoning, he knew, but thankfully, Rin didn't call him out on it. He just cleared his throats and wiped at his tears, refusing to look Ryuji in the eyes. "He's out for groceries. He'll be back in a few minutes."

Ryuji nodded awkwardly, stepping back and closing the door behind him. He let out a breath he wasn't even aware he was holding, just pausing for a minute as he leaned against the wall to calm himself. After a second, he made his way back down the stairs, trying to wrap his mind around what he had just discovered.

Well, at least he'd solved one thing with this.

Rin may have been half demon, but first and foremost, he was _human_.

 

++++++++

  
It's only when he's no longer blinded by his naive hatred that he finally realizes that he's known, he's always known. He's always seen it in those little glances, in the way Rin would ask him for help on homework, in the way Rin would make little bento box lunches for him as thanks, in the way Rin always seemed to brighten up when Ryuji entered the room. He saw it in the utterly heartbroken look when Ryuji had turned his back on him, in the wild flush on his face when Ryuji had seen him on the roof, the anguished look in his eyes as he tried to play off his tears, the agonized sobbing when Ryuji had left the dorms that day.

The Exwires had slowly begun to accept Rin back into their friend group, and then he'd see it in the way that Rin would chatter excitedly whenever he was near, cheeks reddening whenever they touched, eyes wide in awe whenever Ryuji had done something he thought was amazing. Now that he saw Rin as human- just as human as the rest of them -he truly began to notice and accept the fact that he knew what he was seeing.

So he's not surprised when, after class is dismissed, Rin hops on top of his desk, just sitting quietly for a second before opening his mouth.

"I like you," Rin says simply.

Ryuji supposes there's nothing else really to be said. He knew this was coming eventually. He can't make heads or tails of any of his thoughts, any of the questions or things he wants to say, so he just sighs, leans back in his chair and closes his eyes.

"I know."

Rin is painfully, so painfully human. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews are always appreciated, and requests are adored!!


	6. Not Stupid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin was quite a bit smarter than the Exwires gave him credit for. (Requested Fic!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!!Important disclaimer!!!!
> 
> This story features a Dyslexic!Rin, as a request from one of you, and I have to be honest and tell you that I do not personally have Dyslexia, nor do I know anyone who does, so I am going purely off of research here! If there's anything I got wrong or misinterpreted, PLEASE tell me, and I'll fix it right away! :D
> 
> On with the chapter!

Bon felt his eye twitching in irritation as he glared up at the front of the room, trying his absolute hardest to focus on Yukio's lecture, but his concentration was yet again broken by the soft sound of snoring. He saw Yukio sigh before he continued on teaching, but unlike his sensei, Bon couldn't just let it go that easily. This was an important lecture! Yukio was explaining to them how certain herbs could be combined to give exorcists temporary immunity to demon wounds- which would be incredibly helpful, considering they had a mission at the end of the week -and Rin was passed out on his book!

Bon growled lowly under his breath, hands tightening on the sides of his own book, promising himself that he'd demand to know what Okumura's problem was after class. The half demon couldn't even claim that it was the difficulty of the course -- even Shima understood everything! And Shima was an idiot! In fact, Rin should have been the absolute _best_ out of all of them, considering he _lived_ with their teacher and could ask questions whenever he wanted to! But no, Rin was even more of an idiot than Shima was, and he couldn't even be bothered to put any effort into changing that.

It pissed him off.

The bell dismissing them interrupted whatever it was Yukio was saying, and the Exwires closed their books and started packing up. Bon slammed his book shut and angrily shoved it in his book bag, stubbornly ignoring anyone who tried to come up and talk to him. Rin was still asleep at his desk, utterly unperturbed by the chaos and movement around him. Bon narrowed his eyes and threw his book bag over his shoulder, stomping over to Rin's desk and slamming a hand down by Rin's head, fighting back a surge of pride as the half demon jerked awake.

"Huh- wha- I was paying attention!" Rin yelped, looking around the room only to see that everyone was gone, and only Bon was left. Oblivious to the taller student's harsh glare, Rin grinned cheerily. "Oh, it's just you! I thought I was in trouble or something!"

"Why the hell are falling asleep during class?" Bon demanded suddenly.

Rin's smile fell, and he sighed quietly, leaning his chin on his hand and looking back down at the book. "Because, the lesson's boring-"

"Boring?!" Bon practically shrieked, but Rin ignored him.

"-and I don't understand anything anyways, so what's the point?" He finished.

Bon looked incredulous, trying to comprehend what Rin had told him as he packed up his stuff.

"How can you not understand anything?" He finally asked. "You _live_ with Okumura-sensei."

"Yeah, but all he does is tell me to go read the textbook or something," Rin grumbled as he tugged on his book bag, pushing his chair in before making his way over to the door. "He doesn't actually _help_ me."

"The book is easy to understand, even you should be able to get it," Bon pointed out, a scowl on his face as he followed Rin out, determined not to let this go.

"No, it's not easy, nothing in there makes sense!"

"What?" Bon was once again stunned, pausing in his tracks before shaking it off and running back to catch up with Rin. "How can nothing in there make sense? It's the simplest book out there!"

"Well, it's not simple for me, so just drop it and go be all high-and-mighty somewhere else," Rin snapped, looking oddly pissed and defensive.

Bon's eyebrows furrowed angrily. "Oh, hell no, I'm not going anywhere until you explain all this to me!"

Rin let out a yelp as Bon grabbed his upper arm, dragging him away as soon as they left the Academy. Other loitering students scrambled to get out of Bon's way as he marched over to one of the benches, glaring darkly at the kids sitting there until they moved. He threw his book bag on the bench and shoved Rin down onto the seat, plopping down opposite the half demon, pulling out his book and opening it to their assigned reading. He slid the book over to Rin and pointed at one of the paragraphs they were supposed to be looking over.

"Read this paragraph and summarize what it says," He ordered. 

The half demon frowned, glaring at Bon before looking down at the book, squinting at the words as he read. Bon raised an eyebrow as he saw Rin read over the lines multiple times, getting stuck halfway through sentences before starting back over.

"What, can't you even read?" He asked. He didn't intend it to be a rude question, but he saw Rin's tail twitching in irritation under his shirt.

"Of course I can," Rin growled, but he made no more progress in the paragraph. Bon scowled again before pointing to a line of words.

"Fine, then read this to me," Bon said none-too-nicely, starting to get incredibly frustrated with Rin's stubbornness.

Rin stared at the words for a good minute or so, before baring his teeth and growling in frustration, a dark, angry flush crawling up his neck. "Fine! I can't read it! Are you happy now?!"

Bon's eyes widened in surprise, gaping at Rin. He... couldn't read it? He legitimately couldn't even read the book? Is that why...?

"Rin," He started carefully, and the rare use of his first name had Rin's attention instantly. "Why can't you read it?"

"Because," Rin growled. "The words keep moving and it's giving me a headache! I'm too dumb for-"

"No, you're not," Bon cut in suddenly. He shook of his shock and pulled out his phone, typing something in quickly before showing the screen to Rin. "What about this, is this better?

Rin squinted at the screen again, before hesitantly nodding, looking up at Bon in confusion. The Aria-in-training merely hummed thoughtfully, pulling his phone back towards his body and typing in it again.

"Just like I thought..."

"What?" Even Rin's superior hearing couldn't even pick up what Bon had muttered under his breath.

Bon looked back at Rin, eyes narrowed in determination. "Be back here tomorrow, right after school. Bring all your stuff with you."

Rin didn't have any time to say anything before Bon picked up his book and his book bag, eyes skimming over his phone as he left Rin and made his way over to the boys' dorms. Rin was left at the bench, confusedly wondering what the hell Bon was talking about.

 _It makes sense_ , Bon thought to himself. _I'm no psychologist, but everything's matching up here._

He glanced up to make sure he was heading the right way before looking back down at his phone, typing again.

_How to test for dyslexia..._

+++++++++++++

  
When Rin finally got back to the bench the next day, still confused as to what Bon wanted, Bon was already seated at the bench, books and papers scattered across the table. Rin's gaze lingered on Bon's determined expression, hair flipped back and clipped down (Bon always looked so _cool_!), before he looked back at the papers. The other Exwire didn't even look up as he sat down, just reaching over and grabbing Rin's book bag before sliding a book over to Rin. He was about to ask why Bon was giving him another book (hadn't Rin already told him that he couldn't read it?) when Bon suddenly spoke.

"I think you might have dyslexia," Bon said firmly, looking up from the papers he was looking over.

"Liss-dexy-what-a?"

Bon couldn't help but chuckle at Rin's butchered attempt at the word, but he sobered when he saw how frustrated Rin was. He pulled out a notecard from a package by his side, then a brightly colored green marker and wrote the word out on the notecard. He made the bottoms of the letters thicker than the top, slanting some lines of the letters further to the right or the left. He'd spent most of the previous night teaching himself that new way of writing the letters, a style that he read helped ground the letters and make them easier to read for dyslexic kids.

Rin looked curiously at the notecard as Bon flipped it around to face him, pointing at a small grouping of the letters. "Repeat after me: diss."

Rin frowned, but did as he was told. "Diss."

He pointed to a new collection of letters, carefully and clearly reading them. "Lex."

"Lex."

"Ee."

"Ee."

"Ah."

"Ah."

Bon nodded, and Rin felt a surge of happiness when he was able to copy Bon.

"Diss," Bon said slowly, pointing to a larger group of the letters.

"Diss," Rin repeated, squinting at the weighted letters (which were a lot easier to read, he noted happily) and trying to memorize what grouping made what noise.

"Lexi."

"Lexi."

"Ah," Bon finished, feeling a smile creep up when Rin did as well. "Dyslexi."

"Dyslexi..." Rin was a bit slower, as if he was getting a feel for how the word sounded.

"Ah."

"Ah."

"Dyslexia."

"Dyslexia?" Rin sounded unsure of how he was saying it, but Bon nodded once again as he doodled a little picture of a person on the other side of the notecard, along with a few letters scattered over the paper and a question mark by the little stick figure's head.

"Dyslexia. It means that your brain doesn't process letters and sounds the same way others do, and writing ain't as easy," He explained, but seeing Rin's disheartened look, he scrambled to fix his mistake. "It doesn't mean you're dumb or anything! It's actually more common than you think, something like 10% of kids have it? And they suspect around another 10% of kids go undiagnosed, so it's not too big a deal! You just learn a different way!"

Rin, despite his words, still looked disappointed, leaned his chin down on the table and sighed, looking dejectedly at the notecard.

"Look, Okumura," He tried again. "It's a goddamn miracle that you even got this far in school. I mean, without an IEP-" Rin looked confused again. "-An Individualized Education Plan, you still managed to last until high school."

"Teachers just wanted me out of their classes," Rin muttered.

"That's not what I mean- I'm talking about dyslexic kids _dropping out_ of high school."

Rin raised an eyebrow.

Bon sighed and leaned an elbow on the bench. "35% of dyslexic kids drop out of school, y'know." He said quietly, looking Rin right in the eyes before his expression firmed again. "But you're not gonna be one of them, not if I can help it, so here-" He pulled over a stack of papers from the other side of the table, along with more notecards and a bright yellow high lighter. He'd gone through and typed up their readjng for the weekend in a special font that was supposed to be easier on his eyes. "Read through this and highlight anything you don't understand."

Rin hesitated, taking the highlighter up in his left hand, then switched it to his right and started reading. Bon waited to make sure that he really was reading before opening up Rin's book bag, only to come face to face with a complete and utter _mess_. He could see their AP Biology homework mixed in with their Geometry notes, and illegible, sprawled Pharmaceutical worksheets scattered everywhere. His nose wrinkled in disgust, and he ignored Rin's surprised cry as he dumped the book bag on the table.

"Hey, what're you-!"

"Your book bag's a mess," Bon interrupted, throwing a sideways glance at Rin before reaching in the bag and pulling out some papers stuck at the bottom. "No wonder you keep losin' stuff."

Rin huffed in irritation, then turned back down to the papers, face set in determination. Bon's eyes lingered on the bangs falling over Rin's eyes, the way Rin would frown and glare at the offending hair before blowing it away with a short puff of air, only to have it fall right back in his face.

"Did you lose the clip I gave you?" Bon asked.

Rin looked up from his papers, a light flush coloring his cheeks as he tucked the hair behind his ear. "No, I still have it, I just didn't think I would need it with me."

Bon hummed, then stood up, leaning over to grab a ponytail and a comb from his book bag. He moved to stand behind Rin, ignoring the half demon's curious gaze as he dragged the comb through Rin's hair. After a second or two, Rin turned back to his papers, flipping the highlighter absently in his hand as Bon carefully brushed through his hair. Bon was surprisingly careful with the tangles, setting the comb aside and gently untangling them with his fingers before running the comb over it. Soon enough Rin's hair was sleek and smooth, and then Bon brushed his bangs back and combined them with some of the rest of his hair, pulling it up into a half-ponytail and securing the tie around it.

Rin reached up to feel his new little ponytail as Bon sat back down, a little smile tugging at the half demon's lips and a flush dusting his cheeks again, still able to feel Bon gently brushing through his hair. He ducked his head down as his ears burned, trying to focus back on his reading as Bon started to organize his papers into different subjects. Bon gave each subject a specific color folder, and set homework aside in another folder. He grabbed a black marker (it might not be as easy for Rin to read, but it would stand out against the colors) and carefully spelled out the names of each subject in the special font he had practiced.

"Hey, Bon?"

Said Exwire shook his thoughts away as Rin addressed him, looking up from the folders. Rin had turned the papers around to face him, an embarrassed flush on his face as he pointed to one of the words.

"What is this one?" Rin asked, avoiding looking Bon in the eyes. "I was just gonna highlight it, but it pops up a lot."

Bon grabbed another notecard and a bright orange marker, writing the word 'Naberius' out on one side of the note card. He helped Rin sound out the word, then on the other side drew a little animal on the back. He thought for a second, then drew the front of a horse and the back of a bear, giving the mismatched animal a scowl. "Naberius are types of ghouls, they're a bunch of demons combined together. You can think of it like 'nay', like a horse, and 'ber', like a bear, and then just 'ius'. Nay. Bear. Ius."

"Nade..." Rin attempted, shaking his head when he got it wrong and then trying again. "Naberius?"

Bon nodded, feeling a smile creep up again. It really was amazing that Rin was catching on so fast -- even with individualized help, he had thought that it would've taken weeks to get this far, but Rin was jumping over hurdles as quickly as they popped up. He guessed it just really went to show that Rin was far, far smarter than they ever gave him credit for.

It continued on like that for the rest of the afternoon, Bon organizing Rin's notes and class work while Rin read through the papers, highlighting words and sentences here and there and asking Bon for help when he needed it. Before they had even really realized it, the sun was setting, and students were filing out of the yard area to start heading back to their dorms. Bon had finally finished organizing Rin's new folders and tucking them back into the half demon's bag while Rin continued reading, completely absorbed in the text now that he was finally able to somewhat understand it.

"Hey, Okumura," Bon poked Rin's shoulder, pulling his attention away from the text. "We ain't got much to do over the weekend besides read that, so come back tomorrow and I'll get your book bag back to you."

"Why're you taking it?" Rin asked, raising an eyebrow

"There's a special font that's supposed to be easier on the eyes for you, so I'm gonna retype your assignments for you." Bon explained casually, zipping up Rin's book bag and slinging it over his shoulder with his own. "We should probably go talk to Okumura-sensei, see if he knows any psychologists who can officially diagnose you. We'll probably have to do a lot of tutoring to get you caught up in your classes, but..."

Rin zoned out as Bon continued talking, eyes wide and mouth parted. He... he didn't understand -- he didn't get why Bon was going through the effort to help him out with this. Every other tutor that Rin had seen, everyone that his brother had hooked him up with or teachers had assigned him to had always given when they realized how far behind he was. They'd always say he was stupid, retarded, dumb, but here Bon was, not only insisting that he _wasn't_ dumb, but actually _making the effort_ to help him out. It was more than Rin could even say for his own brother! He couldn't help but laugh, which drew Bon's attention.

"Hey, what're you laughing at?" Bon demanded, cheeks heating up again. Did he say something funny? He was being serious, why was Okumura laughing?

"I knew there was a reason why you were the second highest on my Cool Guy List!" Rin laughed.

Bon's expression twisted in confusion even as his cheeks colored. "Cool Guy List?"

Rin nodded excitedly, pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket and showing it to Bon. "See? You're number two!"

The Aria-In-Training was second on the list, just under some guy named Shiro and two spaces above...

_"You think I'm cooler than your brother?!"_

"Huh? Well, yeah!" Rin grinned, oblivious to the wild blush that colored Bon's face. "It's kinda hard to see him as a cool guy when he was such a crybaby when we were younger, not to mention he's such a hard ass these days!" Bon was utterly stunned by how _genuine_ Rin's smile was -- this guy just wore his heart on his sleeve, didn't he? "You're definitely more awesome!"

Bon's face felt like it was on fire, and he was suddenly grateful that it was starting to get darker outside. He crossed his arms, turning away from Rin so he wouldn't have to risk the half demon seeing the deep blush on his face.

"Yeah, well, whatever, just be back here tomorrow." He huffed.

"Can do!" Rin chirped, grabbing his stuff up and waving goodbye to his classmate. "Bye, Bon!"

"Good night," He muttered under his breath, sighing as he pulled out his phone and began typing into the search bar.

_How to tell a guy you like him..._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been so sick for the past few days ;-; I feel terrible -- but the upside is, I get to stay at home and write all day! I'm especially excited to get started on Equilibrium, I have so many ideas for that story!
> 
> And I decided to watch the Kyoto Saga, and jESUS CHRIST
> 
> I HAVE PROBLEMS WITH JUST ABOUT EVERYONE EXCEPT IZUMO AND RIN!! I am so pissed at the Exwires right now, especially Bon (Have you ever seen someone so hypocritical?). And DON'T even get me STARTED on Yukio!! Gods Yukio needs to be slapped. Multiple times. With a chair. A metal chair. 
> 
> I've also come to the conclusion that Rin is too good for the Exwires (the whole Vatican, in fact) and nobody there deserves him -^- Except Izumo, of course. 
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading, and I'll see ya'll next chapter! (Another request from one of you! :D)


	7. How Can You Be Nervous If You Know You're Good?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NORMAL NOTE IS AT THE BOTTOM BC I HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO SAY!!!
> 
> Okay, so updates for this story will probably begin to slow as I focus more on Equilibrium. I'm really psyched to be working on that, so be sure to check it out!

Most people, if they bothered to talk to her, asked the same thing when Rin told them that she was in band. Wasn't she ever nervous? How could she get up on the stage like that? Did she ever feel self-conscious? Wasn't she ever worried that she would mess up? All those people watching her and her classmates from the seats, wasn't that just nerve-wracking? Especially being first chair, where she had to sit up at the very front?

Well, most of the time, she'd laugh and tell them _'Of course not! How can you be nervous when you know you're good at something?'_

She hadn't started band in middle school, like many other kids did. She'd always been stunned by her classmates' abilities to create such beautiful sounds on their instruments, but even if she wanted to play, she was sure that the teacher would never let her be in the band. Surely she would break any instrument they handed her, smash the chairs and snap the stands, get into fights with other students and hold them back. So, she never tried, and never truly gave it a second thought.

Rin hadn't even joined the high school band on purpose. Her classes had all been picked for her by Mephisto (she never thought she would even get to high school, so she never put any thought into which classes she would take) and he had apparently just thrown her into whatever extracurricular they had open.

She remembered how utterly embarrassed she had been when the teacher had called her out, even after she had hid herself in the back of the room, and asked her what instrument she played. Rin had to quietly tell the teacher that she didn't play one, and the kind woman, Tsubaki-sensei, just giggled and told her to come see her after class. Eventually, the student's stares died down and they started practicing, and Rin could hide away in her phone and quietly listen to the band.

After the bell rang, Rin had quickly gathered her stuff up and shuffled over to Tsubaki, only to find the teacher already waiting for her. The tall woman smiled and rested a hand on her shoulder, leading Rin into the instrument room as she asked Rin how her day was going. Tsubaki sat Rin down at a chair as she talked, grabbing a weird, silver looking thing and another black one. At her question, the teacher explained that they were mouthpieces. The silver one was a brass mouthpiece, and the black one was a wooden mouthpiece.

Rin had flushed wildly when she hadn't been able to get a single sound out on the brass mouthpiece, glad that Tsubaki hadn't seen her tail twitch under her shirt. She tried the woodwind mouthpieces, and although she did well with the saxophone mouthpiece, she was completely unable to form her lips the right way to play the flute.

And then came the clarinet.

Tsubaki had handed her a mouthpiece and lined up the reed she had been wetting (it tasted so nasty at first!), then handed it to Rin. The teacher told her to purse her lips, almost like she was smiling, and blow a steady stream of air. Rin had been utterly stunned at the almost-decent sound that had come out, and Tsubaki had stared at her with wide eyes before grinning and telling her that this was it, she was meant to play the clarinet!

The teacher had been so excited that she grabbed a full clarinet and attached the mouthpiece to it, urging her to try it.

Now, sitting up on the stage, the glow of the stage lights illuminating her silky black dress, Rin couldn't help but laugh. She had really taken to the instrument like a fish to water, practicing any hours she had available, having her teacher tutor her after school so she could catch up with the rest of the band. Yukio hadn't been too happy with this at first- she didn't exactly sound too well when she began, not to mention she had kind of neglected her school work a bit -but once he saw how much this meant to her, he became a little more open to the idea.

Playing her instrument -- it had truly turned her life around. She had met so many friends through band, so many people who accepted her odd quirks and helped her out and played with her. It had even helped her better her academics somewhat. She had heard somewhere that kids who took band did better in school, but the biggest change came from how many new tutors she had. It gave her practice in controlling her strength (it really did help when you had to focus on pressing the keys so lightly) and even training with her flames.

(Once, while Shura had been impatiently watching her try to light the two candles on the end, she had simply imagined her flames as volume dynamics. Right now, she needed piano, a soft but steady stream of air. She closed her eyes and imagined it, and when she opened it again, she had lit the candles! She didn't even wait for Shura's reaction, just barreling down the steps and showing Yukio over and over until he thought up a new exercise for her to practice.)

She steadily grew better over the months, practicing as often and as hard as possible, eventually making her way up to first chair through her hard work. For her second concert, she was playing first part music! She had been so excited that she had invited all the Exwires (and her little brother, of course!) to come see their performance.

Rin was broken from her thoughts as her fellow band members shuffled in their seats the sounds of them warming up dying off as Tsubaki walked up to the front of the stage and introduced them. Rin swiped the inside of her bell with a cleaning cloth to make sure that she wouldn't drip while they were performing (nasty, but it unfortunately happened quite a bit). She looked over the crowd as her teacher talked, hoping to see her friends and her brother in the crowd, but she couldn't find their faces.

She felt a pang of disappointment as she looked back to her sheet music, biting at her lip as her teacher finished up introducing them. Rin shook the thoughts off, bringing her instrument up into standby as Tsubaki got up on her box. Rin took a second to admire the way her clarinet sparkles in such a pretty way with the stage lights, before focusing back as her teacher raised her arms. She brought her mouthpiece up to her mouth in time with the rest of the clarinets, giving her sheet music a quick once over before looking back up at her teacher.

The beginning of the song was quiet and peaceful, played only by the clarinets. For a few measures it was just the quiet sounds of the clarinets, then the rest of the band joined in, creating a beautiful, light sound. The thought of her friends and brother quickly faded to the background as she was caught up in the musicality, ebbing and flowing with the song. It was times like these that her clarinet truly felt like an extension of her body, fingers flowing smoothly over the keys, listening closely to the lower voices to make sure that she wasn't being too loud or quiet.

As she played, she couldn't help but smile. No, she was never nervous playing up on the stage. She had worked hard to get where she was, and she knew she was good. She knew their band was good.

Rin saw a faint glint of light over to her right, and she glanced over to see a pair of glasses reflecting the stage lights. The glare fades, and it was then that she could see that it was Yukio. She could see him smiling softly, and to his sides sat the Exwires, practically sitting on the edges of their seats, grins wide and expressions proud. She felt a swell of happiness as she looked back up at Yukio, and he gave the teacher a glance before looking back at her. Taking the hint, she looked back up at her teacher, but couldn't shake the grin as she played.

Excited? Yes. Proud? Of course. Nervous?

Never. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UUUUUUUUUGH KENDIEKFKJRKEPAKDBBEW
> 
> Okay, so I realize that this is super last minute, and I'm super sorry. This is really just a short, dumb little one shot that I thought up of when I was in practice, and of course, being the shameless band slut that I am, I decided to make Rin a band kid *u* I remember someone asking for some fem!Rin oneshots, so I thought to myself, why the hell not? So, here you go! A fem!clarinet!Rin oneshot! Aha...
> 
> Yeah, being serious here, I'm definitely not 100% happy with this here. If you've ever written a chapter with writer's block, then you know how that feels -_-' 
> 
> Anyways, comments and reviews are appreciated! Also! I run off requests, so don't feel afraid to ask for something!!
> 
> Also, the song I referenced is Slane by Douglas Wagner, you should totally listen to it!


	8. What Happens In The Rainforest...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Exwires have encountered a rather... peculiar type of demon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I knooooooooow, I should have had a chapter out wednesday, and I'm sorry! It's just that Equilibrium is absolutely KILLING me, I'm having so much difficulty with the timeline ;-; I'm eternally grateful for my friend Logan, who is essentially cowriting my story with how often I ask him for advice ^^' Anyways! 
> 
> WARNING!
> 
> THIS CHAPTER HAS MAKEOUTS
> 
> AND KISSING OF THE NEC
> 
> ALSO RIN X SHIMA AND SLIGHT RIN X BON
> 
> But that's like, it, so if that's not your thing, then go ahead and skip to the next chapter! This is one of my old drafts that I found, and I kinda liked it, so here you go!

"Okay, can someone tell me again what the hell we're doing right in the humid, bug-infested, rainy pits of the Amazon Rainforest?" Shima complained. "Why couldn't someone from the South American branch handle this, huh? Why did it have to be us? What help even are we here? We're just Esquires, shouldn't professionals be handling this? Like, I know that sensei is here with us and all, but still!" Shima groaned, swiping sweat off of his forehead and loosening another button from his school uniform. Goddammit, why was it so damn _hot_ here? If it was a _rain_ forest, shouldn't it be nice and cool?

"This will be a good learning experience for you, Renzou," Yukio grunted from his position at the front of their little caravan. Unfortunately, no one had bothered to carve out pathways through this damn forest, so he was stuck with their machete, cutting down thin tree limbs and vines and anything else that got in their way. That most likely wasn't the best job for someone thin like him (he had nearly no muscle mass, as embarrassing as it was. He was smart, not strong) but he wasn't prepared to just give up. "So I suggest you take advantage of it. Learn something."

"Aka, shut the hell up and stop complaining," Bon snapped at him, shirt thoroughly soaked in sweat. The whole group of Esquires was just generally in a bad mood, and even though their thoughts matched almost perfectly with Shima's, they were still annoyed by the pinkette's constant complaining about the heat and humidity and bugs and branches and just anything that existed to complain about- didn't he have anything better to do?

"Yeah, but I mean like- urgh!" Even using K'rik as a walking staff, he still managed to slip down the hill they were walking over, almost falling right on top of Shiemi. The normally quiet and even-tempered girl just let out a sigh and pushed him back up before continuing to walk, not saying anything else. Even she wasn't having fun at all with this last minute trip. Shima dared a glance back and saw her death-glaring at the trees in front of him, and that was more than enough to scare him into picking up his pace. "...as I was saying, what _specifically_ are we doing here?"

"Didn't Mephisto say it was a Siren demon?" Konekomaru asked from in front of him. They were all organized in one line, Yukio at the front, Bon behind him, Konekomaru, Shima, Shiemi, then Izumo with her familiars. It was made so that Bon and Yukio could easily defend Koneko if a demon were to appear, and Shima and Izumo could cover Shiemi.

"That's what the reports said," Bon answered, grabbing onto a tree limb to help hoist himself up.

"This will be a good lesson in restraint for you all," Yukio managed to get out. He slashed through a haze of vines before finally- _finally_ -it opened out into a semi-clear pathway. He sighed in relief, the hand holding the machete dropping limply down to his thigh. His arm was seriously starting to go numb, and he was contemplating his choice of using the machete himself. Bon couldn't help but snicker at him, which earned him a swat on the arm. "Especially you, Renzou."

"Hah? What did I do?" Shima cried out, thoroughly offended.

"He means that you're a very sexual person, Shima," Konekomaru sighed, holding onto Bon's belt buckle as they walked up another hill. Bon waited up at the top of the hill after Konekomaru had gotten up, holding a hand out for Shima to pull himself up. He helped Shiemi and Izumo up after that, much to the ire of the latter, but after what had happened just minutes earlier, she wasn't about to take her chances. Not while her knees were still scuffed and aching. "Sirens take advantage of your sexuality to lure you into their trap, so you're more susceptible."

Shima fake-sniffled, wiping at his eyes. "So mean."

"It's not mean, Shima, it's just the truth," Koneko said with a soft smile, filing back in front of him. Shima stabbed the staff into the ground as they descended down the hill, giving the Esquires behind him a hand down. He jogged a bit to take his place back, absently brushing dirt off of K'rik when he got back into the line. He'd already gotten long since bored of looking at the green vines and leaves around them, of the brightly colored flora and fauna that dotted the trees and grass. He'd already stared at the wildlife for longer than he could imagine, and had his moments of panic when he saw the bugs.

"Hey, sensei!" He called up to the front of their line. "Where are we headed, anyways?"

"We are going-" Yukio huffed out a breath, trying to push a rather large branch up and out of the way, but in the end he had to have Bon's help, pushing it up and hooking it around another tree so that they could pass under it. "Thank you, Suguro. As I was saying, we are headed to the South American branch, where they can send us wherever we're needed. I know this is all a little- oh for Christ's sake!"

Yukio groaned in protest when he saw the river that flowed just in front of them. He could see that it was way too wide to just jump across, and moving entirely too quickly to be able to safely cross through it. He looked up, to see if there were some dead branches that they could use to make some sort of bridge, but all he saw were tall, healthy trees. Theoretically, they could probably pass over them, but... Yukio paled, shaking his head. It may have been selfish, but there was no way that he was going to climb all the way up there. That was just way too high for him.

"O-okay, so.... hmm," Yukio paused, thinking through possible ways they could get through the river. "Konekomaru, how about you, Shima and Suguro go search for some dead branches that we could use. Shiemi, you and Izumo come with me and we'll search for some sort of narrowing in the river. Sound good?" He received affirmatives from the Esquires, and with that, he nodded, confident in his decision. "Alright. Let's be off, then. Everybody be here by sunset, and if we haven't found anything by then, we'll camp out here and tomorrow we can..." He gulped nervously. "W-we can climb across the trees."

Shima thought his reaction towards climbing the trees was rather odd, but he didn't comment on it, assuming that Yukio must have felt the same way about heights that he felt about bugs. He shivered just at the thought. Branches. Branches. Focus on finding branches, and not the likelihood of there being hundreds and hundreds of bugs of all shapes and sizes and probably some with pincers or stingers or big eyes or fanged teeth or-

"Shima! Now isn't the time to be flipping out!" Bon snapped, pulling Shima out of his hallucination. "Let's go!"

"R-right!" He stuttered, switching K'rik to his other hand before following after he and Konekomaru, very pointedly ignoring that he was probably stepping all over some bugs. They went the opposite way of the river, searching for dead branches, but everything was either healthy or too small to cross the river with. They searched for what felt like hours, but the sun had just barely budged in the sky. At this point, they were all drenched in sweat and more than a little irritated.

Shima groaned for what must have been the thousandth time, leaning against a tree and trying to catch his breath again. Bon stubbornly refused to relax, still on the search for branches, but Konekomaru was sitting primly on the ground. Shima sighed, sliding down to sit down as well. He had just started to relax, when he thought that he heard something. He tensed, listening intently for the sound again, which the others seemingly had not noticed. It wasn't but a minute later that he heard it again, and then he realized that it wasn't words, it was more of a... pulling sensation

He stood up, K'rik held in his hand. He felt the tugging again, and followed it, using his staff as a shield as he pushed through the branches. He followed the odd tugging deeper into the forest, too overcome by curiosity to think about warning the others about where he was going. Shima wasn't quite sure why exactly he was following the feeling, but when he felt it get stronger, he stopped thinking about it. The pull lead him into a break in the trees, and all the sudden he was in a clearing.

He felt his breath catch in his throat.

There was a stone in the clearing, covered in layers of leaves and grass, but what had gotten his attention was the figure on it. It looked like a boy, maybe around his age or younger, with pale skin and midnight blue hair. The boy was curled up on the rock, head lying down on his folded arms, shoulders raising as he breathed slowly. He wore what seemed like only a piece of cloth around his waist, though his arms and hands and legs were decorated with golden jewelry, blue gems dotting the bangles. The boy even bore piercings in one ear, a little piece that attached to the upper part.

The boy seemed asleep, and Shima contemplated walking forth and waking him up, but it seemed like the decision was made for him. He'd barely even been able to breathe before the boy's eyes opened, and he was frozen.

Words could not describe the heavenly blue that his eyes were, as if flames flickered behind those depths, capturing a hue that not even the depths of the ocean hoped to match. The second he saw them, he was entranced. He didn't even move when the boy sat up, looking at him curiously. He saw that a furry appendage- a tail? -flickered behind him on the rock, but for some reason, it didn't bother him at all. He was too distracted by the feeling of warmth that spread over his body when the boy looked at him -- not the burning of the sun above the trees, just a soft warmth, like a fire on a cold day.

The warmth only intensified when the boy stood up, smooth feet gliding over the ground as he made his way slowly to Shima. Renzou gulped, feeling sweat roll down the back of his neck, but he couldn't move. The boy was entirely too gorgeous -- he couldn't stop staring. Soon enough, the boy stood right in front of him, so close that Shima could even count the number of eyelashes that framed those beautiful blue depths. The boy smiled softly at him, as if sensing his thoughts, and then leaned forward and-

Kissed him?

Shima's eyes widened when the boy leaned up on his toes and pressed a kiss to Shima's lips, all sweet and dainty. He really should have been more shocked, should have pulled away, should've just run, but all the could think about was that the boy's lips were so soft and warm. He felt so incredibly hot with the boy right there in front of him, feeling as if his very skin was on fire. Without him even realizing it, his hands had moved up to touch the soft skin of the boy's cheeks, pulling him closer. He could feel the boy's grin as he pressed closer, almost flush against Shima's body.

All too soon, the kiss ended, but the boy was far from done. Shima's lips parted when the boy leaned down and kissed down his neck, surprising him by nipping softly at the skin, leaving light red marks. Shima's hands drifted up into the bluenette's hair, eyes drifting shut, marveling at how soft his hair was, just like his lips-

_"SHIMA! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM IT!"_

His eyes flashed open, and what he saw made his stomach drop right down to his feet. The boy was still in front of him, except those blue eyes were narrower, those ears longer and pointier, those delicate lips twisted into a demonic grin that bore two rows of sharp teeth prepared to rip his throat out. With a strangled scream, he shoved the boy away from him, into the perfect position for Yukio to fire. The demon let out a shriek as a holy bullet embedded itself in its arm, clutching the appendage to its body and disappearing.

Shima's heart was thudding in his chest when Bon broke through the clearing, Konekomaru close behind him. Renzou felt his face flushing as Bon took a second to look for the demon, the gun he had borrowed from Yukio held tightly in his hand, before suddenly Bon whirled around on him.

"The hell was that?!" Bon snapped angrily. "That thing could have killed you!"

"H-how was I supposed to know it was a demon?" Shima stammered, hand clutching loosely at the shirt above his heart, still pounding.

"So a random guy comes up and kisses you out of nowhere, and that's just _normal_ to you?" Bon retorted hotly.

"S-Suguro, you know that Sirens have a hypnotic quality about them, there was no way Shima could have resisted," Konekomaru protested, ever the voice of reason. Bon frowned heavily, as if he was contemplating yelling at Shima anyways, but even he couldn't deny the truth. He glared at Shima, who flinched back at the gaze, but after a second Bon hesitated, the glare growing gentler.

"Be more careful next time," Bon said gruffly, but they all knew it was just his way of showing that he cared. Shima managed to force a smile, heart still pounding in his chest, but recovered breath was immediately knocked out of him when he saw a glint behind Bon's shoulder, eyes widening with horror. Bon frowned, opening his mouth to ask what the hell his look was all about, when he felt something sharp, no, multiple sharp things, tracing lines across his abdomen, slicing through his shirt like it was little more than tissue paper.

Bon didn't dare move, breath catching in his throat as he felt the same sharpness tapping lightly on his jugular. He looked to the side, trying to at least see who was behind him. Bon's eyes widened when he saw the demon behind him, blue eyes narrowed with glee.

"Yes, be very careful," The demon murmured softly, deceivingly gentle as he leaned his chin on Bon's shoulder, nuzzling against his neck. Bon felt a shiver go up his spine, and even if he wasn't in a situation where he could very well die, he wouldn't dare move anyways, not with such sharp teeth by his neck. The Exwires were frozen out of fear of the demon moving, though, out of the demon’s sight, Yukio slowly reloaded his gun. "Or the sly little demon will grab you and rip your throat out~!”

Shiemi couldn't help but glance up at Yukio as the teacher aimed his gun at the back of the demon’s head, and that was all the warning it needed. The demon whipped around and hissed furiously at Yukio, features once more contorted into that demonic snarl as it tossed Bon aside and lunged at Yukio. Bon fell onto Shima with a startled yelp, heard just barely over the sound of Yukio’s pistols going off. One bullet pierced through the demon’s stomach and another through one of its knees, sending the demon crashing to the ground with an angry shriek.

“You!” It hissed, and the Exwires were stunned to see a look of betrayal on its face. Yukio’s expression blanked, and before the demon could say anything more, a bullet shot straight through its forehead. The demon’s eyes rolled to the back of its head as it started to evaporate, and as soon as it evaporated, the frighteningly calm look left Yukio’s face. The Exwires subconsciously released a sigh of relief as Yukio relaxed, checking each other for injuries as Bon helped Shima off the ground.

“Well, that was quite a train wreck!” Yukio chuckled before turning to the Exwires. “Are any of you injured?”

“Shima and I have a few scrapes, but besides that, we’re good,” Bon answered.

Once they were sure that everyone was alright and started making their way back to the river, Shima couldn't help but speak up.

“Hey, sensei?” Shima asked hesitantly. “That demon- it seemed like it knew you.”

Yukio froze suddenly, and Izumo felt a shiver crawl up her spine as Yukio’s glasses flashed dangerously, but a second later, it was gone, and Yukio turned back to smile at Shima.

“Of course not! It must have mistaken me for someone else. You two, however…” Yukio’s smile suddenly turned menacing as he glanced at Bon and Shima.

“We should have a talk on how to properly resist Sirens.”


	9. Chapter 73 Revised

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Shiemi- and any self respecting woman -should have reacted in Chapter 73

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -u-

"Huh? Does that mean you're not in love with either of us?!"

_Slap!_

Rin's eyes widened as his vision suddenly jerked to the side, his cheek stinging something fierce as the slap echoed in their small little enclosure. He gaped as he looked back up at Shiemi, only to see her eyebrows furrowed, face a dark red and mouth contorted into a frown. At first, he might have assumed that she was simply embarrassed, but the expression on her face was quite clear: she was angry, and very much so. In all his time of knowing her, he had never seen her even close to irritated, much less this flat out anger.

 _"Excuse me?"_ Her tone was thick with offense, eyebrows furrowing further. "Rin, I am not some- some _prize_ to be won!"

"W-wh-"

He couldn't even get a word out, she spoke right over him in her righteous rage.

"I am not some prize for you and Yukio! My life is not a carnival game!" She practically shouted, looking absolutely _livid_. "I am a person! I have feelings! I'm not just some mindless, ditzy machine, going through the entire day wondering which Okumura twin I want to hook up with more! I have my own ambitions in life, my own reasons for coming here to Cram School -- none of which have to do with _romance!_ "

There were tears in her eyes and her voice was cracking, but she refused to stop, all the anger and hurt and betrayal she had been harboring for so long coming out all at once. "You and my mother... and everyone else -- I can tell you think I'm not taking this seriously! That I'm just doing it for fun, or apparently, to get with _boys_! But this is important to me! I came here to be stronger, to be more like you and Yukio, and I just-"

Shiemi abruptly stopped, swiping furiously at the tears that traced tracks down her cheeks. She wanted to be angry, she wanted to be scary-looking like Rin was when he was upset, but the tears kept coming and she just felt so _pathetic_. She must not have been scary-looking at all, not with the flush on her cheeks and the tears clouding her vision. "I just... this is just as important to me as it is to- to you or Bon or Izumo- why can't you all _see_ that?"

A moment or two passed in silence, Rin too stunned to say anything. Eventually, he sighed, scratching at the back of his head.

"Ne, I really messed up, didn't I?" Shiemi didn't answer, and Rin frowned, really feeling the guilt now. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset."

Shiemi brought her knees up to her chest, trying to hide her sniffling, but failing quite terribly. She couldn't help it. She was an emotional person -- she wore her heart in her sleeve, similar to how Rin did. Even so, she stubbornly refused to answer him.

"Well, for what it's worth, I think you're pretty strong," Rin said quietly, and with that, Shiemi peeked over her knees with ready green eyes. "Maybe not physically, but you're pretty resilient, you know! Even when people don't take you seriously, you still keep trying! You're going to be an awesome Exorcist one day!" He grinned, and Shiemi couldn't help but feel a smile creep on, though she hid it behind her knees. "Forgive me?"

Shiemi sniffled again, but lifted her head, expression determined. "Only if you swear to start taking me seriously! No more romance stuff!"

Rin's grin only grew wider.

"Promise!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this was short, and I'm sorry! I wasn't exactly planning on updating today (I've been working on Equilibrium and another oneshot!) but I didn't wanna leave you guys with nothing -- especially on International Fanworks Day! Which is, coincidentally, also my birthday! 
> 
> Have a great day!


	10. Frostbitten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin was frostbitten up to his wrists, Yukio is having a panic attack and Shima is forced to be the peacekeeper. It was just a simple mission to spend a few weeks helping around the Vatican's Antarctica HQ, how did everything go so wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Screams. 
> 
> Okay, this is pretty late. This deadlines are killing me so much. I'm not even done with the latest Equilibrium chapter, it's only halfway finished ;-; I think I may have to relax these deadlines more, because I was only able to get this chapter out when I forgot about the due dates and all. I'm also having some problems with Equilibrium as a whole. In having a problem with the whole characterization, especially Bon. He seems so dull and one-sided in that story. I'll either end up doing some major edits or, well, I don't know, that's my problem, not y'all's :D
> 
> Anyways, forget about me and enjoy the chapter!

Ryuji sighed impatiently, pulling his scarf up over his mouth as he glanced over the Antarctic landscape, eyes protected by dark sunglasses. The Vatican's Antarctic Headquarters stood at his back, and in front of him spanned the northern tip of the peninsula. The environment was bright even with his sunglasses, the snow and ice reflecting every bit of sunlight that hit it. Towering sculptures of ice dotted the layers and layers of snow, populated by -- what was it the scientists had called them? Penguins? Something like that.

Normally, the environment would be far, far too cold for him to ever go out like he was, but it was now just the tail end of summer, and the temperatures were somewhat more bearable at around 15-20 degrees. The win had calmed down significantly, though the scientists and exorcists had warned him that the peace never lasted. He had, at best, two or three hours to do what he needed to do before the winds picked up again. He heard many stories of exorcists being swept up and thrown away hundreds of yards by hundred miles an hour winds, and that was all the incentive he needed to get this done, and fast.

Ryuji nodded to himself before setting off trudging through the snow, K'rik held tightly in one hand to help him. Shima had lended him the staff just before he left, and as he stabbed the staff into the ice to help him keep his footing, he was eternally grateful that his friend had. The former Exwires would be staying behind while he went out searching for their wayward friend. Ryuji had volunteered to go, as he was the sturdiest out of all of them and the one most used to the cold after going out for missions so often.

It was actually on a mission that all of this had started. It was him, Rin and one of the older exorcists tracking down a snow type demon that had stolen some of HQ's supplies. They had just exorcized the demon when they started recognizing the signs of an incoming white-out, and had dashed back to HQ like the devil himself was on their heels. Out of habit, Ryuji had really only looked to make sure that Rin was close near him, and had completely forgotten about the other exorcist. They made it back to HQ only to realize that the other third of their team wasn't there with them. Since Rin was practically immune to the cold and could move the fastest in these conditions, he had gone to go find their other teammate.

Except, that was where the problem started.

Only a few minutes after Rin left, their teammate suddenly appeared, coming with the excuse that he'd found a low level demon that he needed to get rid of. For a while, the former Exwires had hoped that Rin would somehow miraculously realize that their teammate was back, but no such thing happened. They waited for hours for him to return, and when they had finally come to the decision to send someone to help him, a blizzard had hit, and they were forced to wait until the next day.

Although Yukio would never admit it, he had been a nervous wreck waiting for that blizzard to pass. Ryuji couldn't blame him. He himself was incredibly nervous waiting for the conditions to calm back down so they could go find him. It had been six years since they had graduated from being Exwires and they'd all taken on their own meisters upon becoming true exorcists. Even so, they never separated, staying close as a group. They'd all become protective of each other, especially Rin, who Shima had jokingly dubbed their 'little baby'.

Ryuji had to step up and be the rational one when the former Exwires all scrambled to be the one to go find Rin. He had calmly explained that it was safer for all of them if he went, and the group had no choice but to agree. So, here he was, trudging through the snow and ice to find Rin.

"He's got a full head of dark hair..." He muttered under his breath. "It shouldn't be this hard to find him..."

He scanned the horizon, trying to see if he could find the dark blacks of Rin's exorcist uniform. Rin's footsteps had long since been swept away by the raging blizzards, so that was out. He paused, trying to think about it from Rin's point of view. Rin probably would have thought that the best way to find their teammate was to retrace their steps, so if Ryuji could remember which way they had gone, finding Rin should be easy enough.

Ryuji walked for what felt like hours, though he knew it was only thirty minutes or so. He was running out of time, however, and quickly. He could see a few miles out, and on the horizon was a quickly approaching storm. At best, he had an hour until it would be there, so he needed to hurry. He quickened his pace up to a light jog, looking desperately around for that head of dark hair as soft winds started to rustle up the snow. Maybe he should try a different-

There! There!

Ryuji laughed in relief as he saw a dark shape collapsed in a pile by a tower of ice, a small lake of freezing water just nearby. He made his way over to Rin as fast as he could, but the closer he got, the more the feeling of dread intensified. Rin wasn't moving, huddled up tightly on the snow, shivering terribly. His sword was nowhere in sight, and the familiar blue flames were nowhere to be found. Ryuji fell to his knees next to Rin, reaching out with shaking hands to gently prod Rin's face.

"Rin? Hey, Okumura! Where've you been? We were waiting for you!"

Ryuji had to raise his voice to be heard over the whistling of the wind, but Rin didn't respond. Feeling his stomach drop right down to his feet, he turned Rin over so he could see the half-demon's face, and suddenly felt like throwing up. Rin's brows were furrowed and dotted with snow, lips dyed a light blue and eyes squeezed tightly shut. His nose had odd spots of dark grey, while his ears were mostly covered in it. His breath came out in short, shallow puffs, hands clenched tightly to his chest. Rin's eyes fluttered open and he shifted, and then Ryuji could see the black creeping up Rin's wrists.

Frostbite.

"R-Ryuj-ji...?" Rin's voice was weak and barely understandable through the shivers that wracked his whole body.

Ryuji felt some semblance of relief that Rin was at least conscious. "You're awake!"

"S-shitty p-p-place f-for a n-nap, huh-h?" Rin joked lightly.

Ryuji felt like hitting Rin for making jokes at a time like this. He carefully reigned in the irritation fueled by his fear and anxiety and sighed, rolling his eyes.

"You're the only one dumb enough to fall asleep out here." Ryuji pointed out.

"D-didn't-t w-wanna," Rin murmured, eyelids starting to droop again. "C-cold. Tired."

"Hey now, stay awake." Ryuji patted Rin's face lightly, and when that didn't work, he frowned. "If you go to sleep, you might not wake up again."

Rin's eyes suddenly snapped open, the warning enough to keep him awake. Ryuji quickly unzipped his jacket and carefully threaded Rin's arms through the sleeves, taking care not to touch or irritate his frost bitten hands. He took off his scarf, as well, and wrapped it around Rin's head and neck. He grabbed K'rik and stuck it between his second jacket and his back, fighting back the chill of the wind as he slipped his hands under Rin's knees and back, hoisting Rin up with a grunt. He turned towards the direction of headquarters, but before he could even take a step, Rin let out a protesting noise.

"What is it?" He asked gruffly, impatient to get Rin to medical attention.

"K-Kur-rikar-ra," Rin's voice was a quiet whisper as he pointed over to the small lake, and it was then that he saw the hilt of the Koma sword. The sheath of the sword was stuck deep in the ice, strings from the kashira fluttering in the wind. He sighed, kneeling down and propped Rin up against the ice before pulling K'rik back out and making his way over to the sword. He flipped the staff over and drove the point into the ice, breaking it away enough to yank it out of the snow. He grabbed the sword by the hilt, eyes wide when he realized that the sword was completely frozen through.

It made sense. The snow and ice should have been no problem to Rin, but if the sword held his demon heart, and it was frozen through...

Well, as if he needed any more incentive to get back faster.

He quickly tied the strings from the kurigata around his belt and returned K'rik to his back, picking Rin back up. Rin was quiet now that his sword was returned, leaning his forehead against Ryuji's neck as the Aria started a quick pace back to HQ. Ryuji felt his worry spike at how Rin's forehead felt utterly frozen against his neck, the soft breaths puffing against his collarbone raising goosebumps on his skin. Rin was cold, far, far too cold.

"H-hey, R-Ryuji?"

"Yeah?" He glanced down at Rin, an eyebrow raised. "What's up?"

"I-I g-g-gotta t-tell you s-somethin'." Rin said quietly, glancing up at Ryuji. He reached his arm up around Ryuji's neck, pulling the Aria closer. Ryuji felt his cheeks heat up at how close Rin was getting. His initial reaction was to shrug Rin's arm away, but the half-demon was staring up at him with meaningful eyes. Rin looked more serious than Ryuji had seen in a while, lips drawn into a small frown as his eyes wandered down Ryuji's face, lingering on his lips.

"What is it?" He forced his voice to stay steady as normal as Rin leaned up to his ear, breath still chilly as he murmured lowly.

"Y-your b-beard m-m-makes you l-look l-like a hobo."

Silence.

"I'm gonna fuckin' drop you, Okumura."

 

* * *

 

  
Yukio found himself biting anxiously at his lips as he paced along Vatican Headquarters' hallways, wishing for what must have been the thousandth time that he had gone with Bon to go find Rin. The past few years had made him rethink a lot of things, including his relationship with his brother. He was forced to remember why he became an exorcist, why he had trained so hard since he was seven. Why he made it through elementary and middle school and how he had the courage to get through high school. All of it was because of his brother, because Rin gave him the courage to do what he wanted.

His brother had helped him so much, and the one chance he had to return the favor? Gone.

"Ne, four-eyes, come and sit down already, will ya?" Shura's exasperated voice called out.

Gone to his student who wasn't even qualified for this kind of mission, qualified for recon. What if Ryuji ended up hurt, too? He should have never let his former student go! He was the senior exorcist here, he made the decisions and he told them what to do -- he was the leader here, and he had to be the one to think plans through. But he hadn't, and god, what if they were _both_ missing now? Shouldn't they have been back already? What was taking them so long?

"Yuki? C'mon, yer freakin' everyone out. Relax already."

Goddammit, he should've sent a whole team out there to go find Rin. The blizzard would have wiped away any of the landmarks, any footprints, any signs of where Rin had gone. Rin was lost, Rin was missing somewhere out there in the negative degree conditions and harsh winds and no protection and no way to get back and it was _all his fault-_

"Yukio!"

A hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder and yanked him around, and he realized that he couldn't breathe. There were tears in his eyes and blood running down his chin from his lip and he couldn't breathe. Shura's pink eyes were narrowed with concern, her hand tight on his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" She asked quietly.

"C-can't breathe-"

Shura gave a minute nod and quickly threw an arm over his shoulders, tugging him down closer to her level. She pulled him along through the hallway and into the side room, closing and locking the door behind them. He could feel gentle but firm hands maneuvering him down to the ground, pushing his legs up to his chest and nudging his head down to his knees. Shura sat down next to him, far away enough to give him the space he needed, but close enough that he wouldn't think that he was alone.

Soon enough, Shura started tapping her nail against the ground, a slow, steady rhythm that Yukio was able to recognize, even in his panicked state. He gasped in a desperate breath in two taps, then breathed out for two taps. His breathing was ragged and shallow, unsteady and frantic, but he focused on breathing in time with Shura's tapping. Soon enough, he was able to extend to three beats, then four, then five, breathing becoming easier as he went on.

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," Shura quoted quietly. "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep..."

His breathing calmed, and that combined with Shura's calm quoting of the Bible helped calm him down. His breathing calmed and the tears stopped, panic subsiding as his thoughts died off. Towards the end of Genesis 1 was when the adrenaline left him in a rush, and suddenly he felt utterly exhausted. Yukio slumped on to Shura's shoulder, and the older woman didn't even hesitate in her chanting, just lifted an arm and wrapped it around his shoulders, threading her fingers through his hair as he calmed himself down.

"Are you alright now?" She eventually asked. Yukio just nodded, a hot flush on his cheeks. Even though he knew that Shura would never judge him for it (in fact, besides his brother, she was the only one who could help calm him down) but it didn't change the fact that his panic attacks embarrassed him. He'd been diagnosed at a young age with a panic disorder, and these sorts of attacks were unfortunately reoccurring, and the medication only helped so much. "Ya gonna tell me what happened?"

He didn't want to talk it through, but even he knew that it was necessary. "I'm scared."

"Obviously," Her tone was light and joking, but not teasing, never teasing. "Why?"

"...my brother." Yukio eventually murmured.

"Yeah, he's an idiot," Shura agreed. "What else?"

"Ryuji."

"Why's that?"

He sighed, reaching up to rub at his eyes. "I shouldn't have sent him."

"He's fully qualified to go out there, probably even more 'n any of us. He's been trainin' for that bazooka, you know. Ain't nowhere near as muscled as Rin, but he'll get the job done," She twirled a strand of his hair between her fingers as she spoke. He'd never admit it, but she could tell he loved having his hair touched. She'd always pet his hair when he was stressed, or- in this case -panicking. "And he's got that fire summon thing, so if worse comes to worst, then he'll have it handled."

Yukio sat in silence for a moment, before he eventually sighed. "Dammit, you're right."

"Of course I am!" She crowed. "As for-"

"Miss Kirigakure!"

Both Yukio and Shura jumped as the door was suddenly thrown open and a man looked in, face panicked.

"I'm terribly sorry for breaking in, but Rin and Ryuji are back!"

Yukio was on his feet and out the door in seconds, pushing the man aside in his warpath to the entrance of the headquarters. His expression had fallen to what the former exwires had dubbed his 'business face', a frighteningly blank look that sent shivers down your spine. Shura sighed and followed along after him, sending an apology over her shoulder to the startled man left behind. She was hot on his heels as he shoved scientists and exorcists alike aside to get to his brother.

There was already a team of doctors swarming around something, and he was able to see Ryuji's multicolored hair over the thrall. One of the doctors caught sight of him and quickly paled, rushing forwards and holding his hands up.

"Sir, I really don't think that you should-"

"The day my brother and I turned eighteen," Yukio's voice was cold and sharp as the ice outside, eyes narrowed in a furiously calm glare. "We went to a lawyer and made each other our durable powers of attorney. In the event that he is unable to give consent to any medical procedures, the decision to go through with those procedures is made by me. Now, you can continue to prevent me from reaching my brother, and I will personally guarantee that you will go home stripped of your license, slapped with jail time and sued out of everything you own, down to the last goddamn penny in your wallet."

The man's face was thoroughly pale by now, and the rest of the doctors were staring at him with wide eyes along with the former Exwires and even Shura, but he powered on as if he hadn't noticed them at all.

"Or, you can get the hell out of my way, and I will forget that any of this happened. What is your decision?"

The man hesitated, but wisely moved out of Yukio's way. The brunette stepped forward and the doctors scrambled to get out of his way, all staring at him with wide eyes as Yukio finally got a look at his brother. His turquoise eyes carefully looked over the frost bitten fingers, nose and ears, over the reddened skin, the shallow, erratic breathing. He couldn't get a very good look with Rin cradled in Ryuji's arms like that, but what he saw wasn't good. His expression didn't change, however; Yes, Rin was his brother, but now he was his patient. A patient that needed help.

He looked over at one of the doctors, the woman flinching as his hard gaze hit her. "You, get me a stretcher. I can't look at him like this."

The woman hesitated, the room suspended in silence.

He narrowed his eyes, raising his voice. "What are you waiting for?! Heart failure?! You're gonna get it if you don't start moving -- _now!!_ "

All at once, the room erupted into movement, doctors and nurses scrambling to follow his orders as he shouted them out.

"Someone warm up a salt IV, and get an OR prepped! Anyone qualified for amputations, I want you in there! I need a four small hot water baths and any blankets you have! Let's go, we don't have time!!"

He threw his exorcist jacket to the side and handed his guns to Shura. She gave him a ponytail in response and he tied his bangs and the top part of his hair back. He took the scrubs that were handed to him and followed the doctors towards the medical branch of the headquarters. He was one of the few people there that actually had a medical license, so no one dared protest when he followed behind the gurney holding Rin's unconscious body. He cursed lowly under his breath as he pulled on the scrubs and disinfected himself, making his way into the OR.

Yukio glanced over his brother as the doctors hooked him up to the machines in the room, an IV inserted in the crook of his elbow and a ventilator strapped to his mouth. He had two problems on his hands: Hypothermia and Frostbite. The only way to help hypothermia was to warm the body, but warming the body would make the frostbite worse. He would have to amputate Rin's frozen limbs in order to eat anywhere. The limbs wouldn't regrow until his body was heated again, and they couldn't warm his body until the limbs were amputated, so he had to act fast.

The doctors were waiting for his orders, and eventually he looked up, eyes firm behind his glasses.

"Prep him for amputation. Let's go!"

 

* * *

 

  
Hours later, Rin wasn't exactly stable, but he was well on his way to being. His amputated limbs were disinfected and wrapped tightly, bandaged hands lying on top of the white sheets of the hospital bed. Rin was still hooked to the ventilator, chest rising and falling gently in time with the sounds from the machine. Yukio sighed and leaned against the wall of the hospital room, mask removed and sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He took a seat in one of the plastic chairs near Rin's bed, taking his glasses off and rubbing at his eyes tiredly.

"Hey, sensei...?"

Yukio didn't move from his position, eyes still squeezed shut as he chuckled dryly. "Renzo, you know I'm not your teacher anymore."

Yukio looked over to see Shima standing there next to him, bearing his normal carefree expression, but his brown eyes showed how concerned he was. "Old habits die hard, you know?"

He smiled wryly, letting out a huff of laughter. A long moment passed in silence before Shima let out a breath and took a seat on the other side of Rin's bed, eyes flicking over to the half-demon. Rin's dark blue hair provided a stark contrast to the white pillows and sheets, but his skin almost could have blended in. Shima almost didn't even see the bandages on his nose and ears. He supposed that was better than his skin being black, though. Didn't frost bite go red, white, then black? White meant he was getting better, right?

He didn't know.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Shima asked quietly.

"Maybe. Maybe not," Yukio admitted. "I don't know yet."

Quiet again.

Shima sighed, standing up from his seat and passing by Yukio. He stopped by the door, looking back at Yukio. "I'll bring you a change of clothes. There's no use in trying to make you sleep, so you might as well be comfortable when you stay up all night. Well, morning, I think. My sense of time's all skewed here."

Yukio nodded, but now his eyes were glued to Rin, and Shima knew that there was no way to get his attention now. Shima just smiled tiredly and set off towards Yukio's room, passing by an exorcist or doctor or two on his way. Things had calmed down when Rin had finally been declared fit to leave the OR, but it had still taken him a few hours to convince the former Exwires to go to sleep. He couldn't help but think of the family dynamic that had been created amongst them -- he guessed that when it really came down to it, he kinda had to be the older sibling, the peacekeeper.

It was nice, being the older one for once.

Years ago, he would have happily claimed to be the dad just so he could have one of the girls as his wife, but he'd matured over the years, and had dropped the overly perverse attitude. Sometimes, he'd pick it up for a few seconds to make his friends laugh, but he wasn't really that person anymore. Being an exorcist had forced him to grow up -- another reason to be grateful for that family dynamic.

When he got back to Rin's hospital room, it was to find Yukio slumped over the bed, arms cross on the sheets and breath soft as he slept. Shima couldn't help but grin at the way Yukio's glasses dug into his face. He looked so innocent and dorky when he was sleeping, nothing like the scary doctor who had shouted orders earlier. He reached down and gently pulled Yukio's glasses off, folding them up and setting them on the bed. He noticed a jacket thrown over Yukio's shoulders, one he recognized. Shura must have been in there.

He patted Yukio's head lightly, setting the clothes to the side when he suddenly heard a voice.

"S-Shima?"

He damn near shrieked when Rin suddenly spoke, clutching the shirt above his heart.

"Lord, Rin, your just about gave me a heart attack!" He gasped.

Rin chuckled, voice sounding distorted through the mask. "Sorry."

"It's alright. How are you feeling?" Shima asked.

"Cold." Rin deadpanned.

"You need any more blankets?"

"Y-yeah, thanks."

Shima picked up a few of the blankets set off to the side, tossing them over Rin's body. Rin nodded in thanks before turning to the side to face his brother. He was aware enough not to move his arms too much, careful not to move the IV (careful not to even _look_ at it, because even after all this time he was sure he would throw up if he looked at it). Shima got the feeling that it was time for him to leave, that Rin needed some alone time right now.

He quietly bid them good night as he left, not bothered too much when he received no reply. The Okumura twins were off to sleep, and he needed to get to bed as well.

Eh, once you reach rock bottom, the only way to go is up, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I was thinking to myself, "Which pairing should I do for this chapter?" And then I thought, "You know what? How about I just hint at five thousand pairings and not go through with any of them?"
> 
> >:)
> 
> Also, would anyone be interested in a Grown Up!Exwires fic? It'll probably be a slight spin off of the dyslexic Rin oneshot...


	11. Demon Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One time, long, long ago, there lived a young demon in the land. He came to love a young prince, so the story goes. 
> 
> (BON x RIN, hinted RIN X SHIMA! Based on the Vocaloid song Witch Hunt, but you do not have to know the song to read the story!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's updating at the last minute again? Me!!! Guess who's updating at the last minute with a shitty chapter? Oh look -- also me!!
> 
> This one is rather long (around 7,000 words, I think) so be ready for that! There are also quite a few religious themes in here (which, you should already expect, considering that Blue Exorcist itself is just one big religious theme) so be ready for that too! 
> 
> Will I ever be satisfied with what I write? ;-;

A soft hum in thought, a quirk of the eyebrows, a pink tongue pointing out of a mouth as choices were contemplated. Rin hummed again, scratching at his chin as he glanced over his options again. They had just come in with a new shipment of foreign foods (surprising, for such a small town like this) and he wanted to try a new recipe -- but he didn't know which one to pick. He heard of this nice dish from some other country, something like.... sukiyaki? The tiny little store _did_ have some beef in stock, and he was pretty sure that he saw some pasta somewhere...

He nodded, a wide grin curling his lips as he came to his decision. The old wooden boards of the little market creaked as he reached down and grabbed a bag of rice before setting off to grab the rest of the ingredients that he'd need. As he headed towards the produce section, he made a mental note to drop by the butcher's on his way home. Kuro, his little kitten, let out a short meow before pawing at his pant leg. Rin couldn't help but laugh, reaching his arm down to let Kuro climb up to his shoulder. The kitten meowed again and butted his head against Rin's head. He laughed, petting Kuro before setting off.

It was only a few short steps to the checkout station, a small little table manned by an older fellow colored a golden brown from working decades under the sun. The man's brown eyes sparkled in mirth as Rin walked up and set his stuff down on the table.

"Good afternoon, Rin," The man greeted gruffly, but not unkindly, reaching a muscled hand across to scratch his kitten under the chin. Kuro purred happily, and Rin grinned at the older man. "And Kuro, of course. Looking at our new produce, hmm? Any new recipes you're looking into?"

"Of course, Taro!" Rin chirped, handing across a small stack of cash as Taro looked over his stuff with a critical eye. Although kind, the older man was a strict disciplinarian, and wouldn't hesitate to berate Rin for trying to sneak anything extra without paying for it. "I was looking into this new recipe with that pasta there, something like... ah, sukiyaki? I think that's how you say it? I'm going to have to stop by Ms. Chiaki's for the beef -- she's open, right?"

Taro chuckled. "As always, the workhorse."

"Ha! Like you're any one to talk? When was the last time _you_ took a break, huh?" Rin fired back good naturedly.

Taro laughed, a deep, loud kind of laughter that hurt your ears just a bit, but you couldn't help but laugh along. It reminded Rin of a certain someone he used to know, and he felt his stomach sinking just a bit, but he grinned as if nothing was wrong.

"Not since I was in my mother's womb, God rest her soul!" The older man's laughter died back down to chuckling again as he wrapped up Rin's produce for safe keeping, placing his items back in the basket Rin had carried along with him. "Say, Rin, when will you be joining the missus and I for dinner again? I know our cooking isn't quite as, ah, exquisite as yours, but Umani does enjoy hearing those tall tales you spin."

Rin hesitated for a second, just staring at Taro as if he was contemplating something, before he smiled widely. "Of course! Any night you'll have me!"

"Good, good," The man smiled in satisfaction before waving goodbye to Rin. "And don't forget, we could always use an extra hand on the farm if you find yourself needing some extra income!"

"Thank you, Taro, and I'll be sure to remember that!" Rin called as he waved goodbye, holding his basket in the crook of his elbow as he pushed open the door to the little market. He was immediately hit by the warmth of the sun on a hot summer day, but a soft breeze ruffled his hair and cooled the heat. He couldn't help but smile, pushing his hair out of his eyes as he continued on his way to the butcher's shop. Other townspeople carried on with their own errands beside him, though they occasionally threw a 'hello, Rin!' or a 'good afternoon, Rin!' his way as he passed by.

"Today would be a great day to go on a picnic, don'tcha think?" He murmured under his breath to Kuro, reaching up to pat his kitten's head absently. Kuro meowed in response as he searched through the crowds of people for the familiar sign of Chiaki's butcher shop. He frowned, squinting as he read over the signs decorating each shop. Damn, maybe he was going blind. Might have to invest in a pair of glasses soon enough before it got any worse.

"Oh, there it is!" He grinned, picking up his pace as he finally found Chiaki's shop. Rin picked up his pace, speeding up to a light jog-

Only to run right into someone and send his entire basket flying.

Kuro let out a furious yowl as Rin fell back on his ass, the black-haired boy letting out a yelp as he hit the ground. Not even a second later, one of the apples that he'd so carefully picked out hit him right in the head, the rest of the produce scattering on the ground. He sat, stunned, for a few seconds before groaning, rubbing at his head as a few apples and pears rolled away. He pulled himself up to his knees, sighing as he righted his basket and started picking up everything he'd dropped.

Thankfully, although the townspeople had no time to stop and help him, they avoided stepping on his stuff. He picked up the bananas that had fallen off to the side, and murmured a quiet 'thank you' as he was handed the pasta, thankfully still safe in its bag.

Wait.

Handed...?

Rin looked up in confusion, and when he saw who had handed it to him, he felt as if the breath had been knocked out of him. A man, around his age, kneeled in front of him, dark brown eyes looking at him in confusion. Rin felt his cheeks flush, eyes tracing along the man's strong jawline, and wow, he must be really rich to have such nice clothes! And his hair... wild and tousled, colored a dark brown with an odd bleached strip up the center. Rin usually saw pierced ears on women, but this man wore silver piercings as if they belonged on him, and Rin couldn't help but agree. He just looked so...

"Cool..." Rin breathed.

The man quirked an eyebrow, opening his mouth to speak and suddenly Rin was glad that he was on the ground because...

"What didya say?"

...God, that voice made him weak in the knees.

"You look so cool! I've never seen a guy with pierced ears before! Did it hurt? I bet it did! Miss Chiaki says that her piercings took weeks to heal, and she only had one! And you have-" Rin suddenly paused in his gushing, counting the number of piercings the man had while he looked at Rin in stunned silence. "Wow! You have eight! That must have taken _forever_ to heal! Did you get them pierced when you were younger? Miss Chiaki got hers done when she was fifteen -- I wonder what she would think of your hair?"

He continued to chatter on as he picked up the rest of the fruits and food scattered on the ground, cheeks flushed and grin wide. "She has those dreadlocks -- I wonder where she got them? Have you ever seen dreadlocks before? Do you have to redo them every day? Do you have to redo _your_ hair every day? I can imagine that the blonde strip goes away pretty quickly!"

Rin looked up at the man as if expecting answers to the hundreds of questions that he'd asked. Rin's eyebrows furrowed as the man looked down at his knees awkwardly before finally saying something.

"You, uh... you talk a lot." The man finally said.

Rather than take offense, Rin just laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah! Taro says that I make up 90% of the conversation in a room! He says I could probably have a whole conversation by myself if I wanted to!"

Once he'd gathered all of his food up, he grabbed his basket again and returned it to the crook of his arm, standing up and brushing his pants off. He reached a hand down to the man.

"I'm Rin Okumura, what's your name?" Rin asked.

The man hesitantly took the hand Rin had offered. "I'm Suguro. Ryuji Suguro."

"Wow, even your name is cool! 'Dragon'!" Rin crowed, tugging Ryuji up with a surprising amount of strength. Ryuji stumbled forward, wide-eyed at how Rin had managed to pull him up as if he was nothing but a piece of rope. Not to mention, he didn't even seem to care that Ryuji's name was reknowned across the entire country. He was heralded as the prince that would fix his father's mistakes, but Rin just grinned and shook his hand, unaware that anything was wrong.

"It's nice to meet you!"

 

* * *

 

  
"...And so then I start flipping out, because half my foot's being grabbed by this horny pig, and there's a chicken running around headless, and the shovel's still tangled in these damn weeds- Oh, Ryuji!"

People groaned audibly as Rin's story was abruptly cut of by the appearance of someone new, but soon enough the next round of beer and a new story distracted them as Rin broke from their company. The entire pub held an air of fun and celebrating, friends and strangers alike mingling as if they were all one big family -- and with a small town like this, how could you not be so close? Rin had to gently turn down requests for stories and conversation as he made a beeline for Ryuji.

"Hey, Ryuji! You came!"

The brunette glanced behind him only to flush as he saw Rin, turning away from the two people he was talking to. "Oh, uh, hey."

"Ooh, who's this?" Rin asked, eyes wide at the prospect of new people. There were two more guys around their age, though the bald one looked more like a teenager.

"This is Shima," Ryuji introduced, pointing to the first man, a rather tall guy with black hair and brown eyes. Shima smiled kindly and waved, and then Ryuji pointed to the shorter one. "And this is Konekomaru. They're friends of mine, we grew up in the temple together."

"Ah, a temple? So you guys are priests?" Rin hadn't met them before, and it would make sense, if they worked for the church.

"I'm a priest, Koneko here's still a deacon." Shima teased.

"Shima!" Konekomaru protested, shoving the raven half-heartedly.

"Oh, hey, I don't think I caught your name!" Shima said suddenly, looking over at Rin.

Rin smiled, excited to meet Ryuji's friends. "I'm Rin Okumura, nice to meet you!"

"Okumura, huh? Isn't that something like 'small village'? 'Inner village'?" Shima wondered absently. "What do you think, Bon?"

Ryuji's eyes widened and his cheeks flushed a darker red as Rin's eyes widened, a mischievous grin twisting his lips. Rin glanced slyly up at Ryuji, and suddenly the brunette regretted ever letting Rin near his friends.

"Bon, huh?" Rin mused, and now Ryuji was _really_ wishing that Rin had never even set eyes on his childhood friends. "Like bocchan, huh? 'Young master'? Haha! It makes sense!"

"It's a... childhood nickname." Ryuji muttered under his breath, avoiding eye contact with Rin.

"Ah, I get it -- like a best friends-only nickname, huh? Well, I'll just have to come up with my own then! How about... hmm, Ryuji-ji?"

"What?!" Ryuji spluttered.

Rin only laughed. "Cuz you're grumpy, like an old man!"

"I am not!"

"Yes you are! Ryuji-ji!"

"S-Shut up!"

Konekomaru laughed as Ryuji blushed furiously back and forth with Rin, nudging Shima with his elbow. "Looks like Bon has a crush, huh?"

He giggled again as Ryuji declared suddenly that Rin's nickname would be 'blueberry' because of his odd, dark blue hair. Rin turned red up to his ears and soon enough the two were bickering between each other again. Some of the older patrons at the pub laughed and chuckled at the two's antics, murmuring amongst themselves that the two were almost like an old married couple. A few younger children giggled and imitated their arguing, but Rin and Ryuji were too caught up in each other to notice them.

Or the odd look Shima was giving Rin.

 

* * *

 

"Hey, Koneko."

The small monk looked up from his bible to see Shima leaning against the pew in front of him, breaking the quiet of the church. It was Sunday afternoon, so most everyone was out getting lunch and chatting with their neighbors. The church wasn't expecting anyone until later that night, so he was taking advantage of the peaceful sancuary to pick up one of the Bibles and read through it. Shima was staring at his open Bible with an odd look on his face -- if Konekomaru didn't know any better, he'd call it thoughtful.

"Yes, Shima?"

"What do you think about Bon and Rin?" Shima asked, eyes still glued to the Bible.

Konekomaru smiled softly. "You know it's not our place to say. We're supposed to be spreading the word of Christ, not passing His judgement on others."

"That's not what I meant," Shima said quietly. "I mean, about Bon. I didn't know he was gay."

"I don't think he is. He's been attracted to girls all his life, no doubt about that. I think it's just Rin." He replied, leaning back in the pew he was in.

"Isn't that a bit, y'know, suspicious?"

"What do you mean?" Konekomaru asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Shima finally looked up at Konekomaru, brown eyes completely serious, for once. "He's liked girls all his life, and then Okumura comes along, and all the sudden he's head over heels? Don't tell me that's not at least a little weird. "

"It is a little odd," Konekomaru admitted. "What are you suggesting, then?"

"I'm not suggesting anything," Shima sighed, breaking eye contact with Konekomaru to look up at the tall ceiling of the chapel, eyes hesitating on the stained glass painting of Christ being crucified. "It's just... weird."

"Why don't you ask Bon about it?"

Shima snorted, and suddenly the oddly serious air dissapated. "Pfft, no. Then he'd get all pissy because I was nosing around his business."

"He probably would." Konekomaru laughed.

Shima grinned, standing up straight again and stretching his back. Konekomaru looked back down at his Bible, letting the conversation drift off as the church fell back into comfortable quiet. Eventually Konekomaru finished the passage he was reading and closed the Bible with a happy sigh, placing it back in the holder on the back of the pew Shima was leaning on. He stood up and straightened his clothes, pulling out his glasses and placing them securely on his nose. He waved to Shima and murmured a quiet 'good afternoon' as he turned away and left down the pews, leaving the priest alone in the church.

After a minute or two, Shima sighed, robes swishing quietly as he made his way up to the altar at the front of the church. A cross hung in front of a velvet curtain, candles casting soft light over the small podium in the middle of the stage. He kneeled down on the floor and pulled out his prayer beads, clutching them in his hands as he closed his eyes. He murmured a few prayers under his breath before going quiet again, thinking to himself. His thoughts were in utter turmoil, and he took a second to get them in order before speaking again, voice hesitant and quiet.

"I'm not sure about this guy, Rin Okumura," He whispered under his breath. "It... it doesn't make sense. He just comes up outta nowhere and instantly Bon is all over him. Years of hard work and Rin is destroying that in seconds-"

He cut himself off as his voice took a rather vicious tone, and opened his eyes to stare in defeat at the cross hanging before him. "You know me being concerned ain't just because we're friends but- I don't know. I'm sure this is all part of your plan, that you know what you're doing here, and I know you work in mysterious ways, but if you could just.... I dunno, help show me what I'm supposed to do? It's just- this isn't normal, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do here."

There was no response -- not physically, anyways, but deep in his soul, Shima could feel it. A tugging sensation, barely even noticeable, but there. It was urging him to look up, and as he did, a breeze came through the open doors of the church and raced through the pews. The candles were burned out and the Bible on the podium was thrown open, pages fluttering wildly. Shima brushed his hair out of his face as the wind faded, and the pages came to a stop. Feeling that same urge pulling at his soul, Shima straightened and stepped up on to the altar, leaning over the podium.

"For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad..." Shima quotes to himself, eyes widening when he recognized the passage. "...to the kings of the world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty!"

His head snapped over to the cross again, a thousand questions swimming through his mind, but he knew one thing for sure.

He needed to investigate this.

 

* * *

 

 

At this point, Shima was sure that this fake smile was going to destroy his facial muscles. He wasn't sure how much longer he could sit there and act nice as Rin twirled around the kitchen, chattering excitedly to Bon as he prepared some meal, Shima couldn't remember why. Bon was leaning against one of the counters, and the fond look in his eyes was starting to make Shima feel sick. The prince was just standing there with that dumb smile, and anytime Rin looked at him that smile widened and Rin grinned right back at him.

Konekomaru was sitting right next to him at Rin's table, a soft smile on his face as he read a book quietly. Shima didn't get how Konekomaru was being so peaceful about this. Couldn't he see how unnatural, how weird this was? Bon wasn't some- some lovesick _puppy_ , and even if he was, he wouldn't be head over heels for some _stranger_ that had just _casually barged into his life-_

Shima realized that his smile was quickly becoming a heated glare and stopped that train of thought. He tried to keep the thoughts out of his mind, but the longer that he sat here and watched Bon fall even deeper, the angry mutterings clawed at his mind and heart.

"Okumura, you got a bathroom here?" He asked.

"Yeah! It's through my bedroom though, the only bathroom here. This place ain't exactly built for guests," Rin flushed and chuckled nervously, scratching at the back of his head. As Shima stood up and murmured a quick 'thank you', Rin's eyes widened just a bit, and that smile returned. "Hey, you know you can call me by my first name, right?"

"Old habits die hard, I guess." Shima laughed, and bitterly applauded himself on how genuine it sounded.

Rin didn't seem to pick up on that, however, and just smiled brightly at him before picking up the conversation with Bon again. Shima stood up and walked around the kitchen to where he assumed Rin's bedroom was, and even though he had been given permission to go in, he still felt as if he was intruding.

Though that feeling quickly disappeared when he saw how much of a mess Rin's room was.

"Christ, does this guy not now how to pick up after himself?" He muttered under his breath. Shima stepped around the tossed aside shirts and haphazardly thrown books on his way to the bathroom, so focused on not stepping on anything that the sudden meow nearly made him scream.

"Oh, Christ!" He breathed, clutching the shirt above his heart as Rin's kitten, Kuro, peered at him curiously from atop Rin's bed. He leaned over to pet the kitten, smiling fondly. He had to admit, no matter how much he disliked Rin, he could never dislike Kuro. "Hey there, kitty. I'm just goin' to the bathroom, don't mind me."

He gave the kitten one last pat before stepping into the bathroom -- which, unlike Rin's room, was rather clean. He quickly did his business and washed his hands, grabbing the towel and patting his hands dry before putting it back up. When he got back out, Kuro had disappeared again, so Shima could look around Rin's room without fear of being scared to death. Not like there was much to see, just books and clothes and towels strewn about the place. There was no food anywhere, though.

Shima knew he shouldn't snoop, so he made a beeline towards the door and avoided looking around Rin's room. He was so focused on not peeping that he didn't notice Kuro hopping up on Rin's dresser, pawing curiously at a book before knocking it right onto the ground. Shima yelped as the book landed on his toes, falling right back on his ass and clutching his foot. He spared a sharp glance at Kuro, who meowed innocently as the pain faded to a dull throbbing. He was just about to pull himself up when he caught sight of a paper, one that had fallen out of the book Kuro had knocked away.

Against his better judgement, he reached out and took the paper, holding it up closer so he could read it. The paper was crumpled and ripped in places, but what he could read was...

A 'Wanted' poster?

_For Rin?!_

He could see that it was from the town nearby, and it said that Rin was wanted for -- what the hell, murder?! There were pictures of the victims, a kind looking boy with glasses and an older man with a grizzled smile and silvered hair. Not only was he wanted for murder, but he was wanted for witchcraft and conspiring with the devil, too! At this point, Shima's face had peaked dramatically, and his heart was racing a mile a minute. If he listened closely, he could still hear Rin talking and laughing with Bon and Konekomaru, utterly unaware of what he had found.

No, he needed to calm down. If Rin was conspiring with the devil and had already killed before, he would have no problem doing it again. He just needed to act like normal, like nothing was wrong. He tried to steady his breathing as he folded the poster and pushed it into his pocket, pulling himself up and plastering on a smile. There was a mirror hanging on the wall next to him, and he took a quick glance to make sure that he looked normal before he left Rin's room.

"...and then he found out that the priest he was complaining to was the same guy all along!" Rin laughed, pushing the cut up tomatoes to the other side of the cutting board. Rin had to take a second to catch his breath again -- the story must have been funny, if even Bon was red faced from laughing. Shima took his seat by Konekomaru, who had put his book up at some point in time to add to the conversation.

"You sure do have a lot of stories about the church, but I don't think I've seen you there before," Konekomaru laughed, kicking his legs idly. "Much less near confessions!"

Rin's grin faltered just the tiniest bit, and his cutting of the lettuce slowed just a bit. "I, uh, actually grew up in a monastery. Not here, of course, but in one of the towns nearby."

"Why'd you leave?" Bon asked.

At this, Rin's grin dropped entirely, the knife dropped on the cutting board and forgotten. "My brother and I were adopted by a priest at the monastery, Shiro Fujimoto -- he raised us there, and after they died, it just... it hurt too much to go back, y'know?"

"I didn't know you had a brother." Konekomaru said softly, noticing that it was a sensitive subject and trying to direct the conversation away from it.

"Twin brother, actually. Didn't look a thing like me, though," Rin chuckled. "He was a real nerd, wore these glasses all the time and spent most of the day with his nose in a book. He taught one of the Sunday school classes -- he wanted to be a doctor, though. He had colleges lining up down the block to take him, he was that smart. Hard for people to believe that I was the older one."

"It's hard for me to believe that, too," Bon snorted, going along with Konekomaru.

"Hey!" Rin slapped Bon's arm, an offended look on his face, but when he saw Bon's teasing smile he rolled his eyes and took the knife up again.

However, Shima was not jumping on that bandwagon.

"How did they die?"

Konekomaru instantly rounded on the priest, but before he could chastise Shima, Rin continued cutting the lettuce, eyes hidden.

"Hunting accident."

"Why would a priest and a nerd go hunting?" Shima fired back, eyes narrowed.

"Well, you have to get food somehow." Rin replied, and even though his tone was carefree and joking, his body was tense.

Shima's eyes narrowed further, but Bon and Konekomaru's looks of ' _if you say one more word, I'm going to stab you and no one will ever know_ ' kept him from asking any more questions. He let the subject drop as Konekomaru looked away from him and picked the conversation back up, directing the topic away from Rin's father and brother. Soon enough the serious air was swept away, most of the occupants in the room falling back into a friendly mood. Rin carried on most of the conversation- the boy really could keep up an entire discussion by himself -with Bon and Konekomaru adding in occasionally.

Barely even a few minutes later, Shima stood up abruptly and left for the door, calling a 'goodbye' over his shoulder as he slammed the door behind him. Rin raised his eyebrow at Shima's sudden exit, but Konekomaru and Bon didn't see to be too bothered, so he brushed it off.

Later that day, after the sun had already set and Konekomaru had long since left, Rin stood with Bon outside his house. He'd packed up some leftovers for Bon to take with him, and as he handed Bon the food, his hand brushed against the prince's. Rin flushed, glancing down at the ground as Bon smiled.

"We should do this again sometime," Bon offered.

Rin looked up, and just then realized how close he and Bon were, so close that he could see the little scar on the right side of Bon's mouth from an aborted piercing. Rin's mouth turned up in a smile, red coloring his cheeks as he glanced back up at Bon's eyes. The prince reached up to brush a strand of hair out of Rin's eyes, but the shorter boy was quickly growing impatient with the slow pace. Rin rolled his eyes and snickered, hand snaking up into Bon's hair and tugging him down to press a kiss to his lips. Bon was surprised at the sudden move, but as Rin pulled back he snorted and pulled Rin right back up.

Neither of them aware of the events that were about to transpire.

 

* * *

 

 

That morning, Rin awoke to furious pounding on his door.

Cursed flew out of his mouth as he jolted awake, falling right off the side of his bed and down on to the floor. The blankets were all tangled around his legs, taking a few seconds to kick them off before they finally came loose. He pulled himself up, brushing his hair out of his eyes as he straightened and stretched. His eyes were still blurry with sleep as he stepped around the piles of clothes and books and various other things, almost tripping a few times as Kuro meowed and darted in between his feet. He pushed open the door to his bedroom, shuffling along the wooden floorboards to the front door.

He yawned tiredly, wondering what people were doing at his house so early -- well, it was more like noon now, but still. Rin blinked away sleep as the pouring on his door picked up again. "Alright, alright, I'm coming, I'm coming."

Halfway through the hallway, there was the sound of wood cracking and suddenly his door had been smashed in two. His eyes widened but before he could even react there were two men marching through his hallways, grabbing his arms and wresting them behind his back. He helped as he was forced down to his knees, arms twisted at a painful angle behind his back. Something tight was yanked around his wrists, and he realized that it was rope, tied so tightly that it tore through his skin, sure to leave deep bruises soon enough.

"What the hell is going-" Rin was cut off as one of the men cuffed him sharply on the back of the head, hissing a 'shut up!' at him.

He looked back up just in time to see another man walk in, this one wearing-

"Shima?!"

But Shima wasn't smiling, not laughing or joking. The priest's eyes were cold, his entire face a stone mask. "Rin Okumura, you are hereby convicted with murder, witchcraft and conspiring with the devil and have been sentenced to death by fire."

Rin's eyes widened and his face paled as Shima withdrew a page from his pocket, unfolding it and holding it up to reveal his Wanted poster.

"I never killed anyone! This is all a misunderstanding! Just let me explain!" He pleaded.

Shima's face twisted into a snarl, and before Rin could even think, the priest kneeled down and grabbed him by the hair, hand cracking against his cheek. His head was yanked back to face Shima, who glared at Rin with such hatred that it sent shivers down his spine.

"I knew there was a reason I didn't trust you," Shima hissed. "I knew that something wasn't right when you just waltzed in and suddenly everyone loved you. Whatever demon magic you used, it ends today!"

"Demon...?" Rin felt like the world had been yanked out from under him. "Shima, you don't think-"

But the priest was already up, glancing at the men behind Rin.

"Gag him." Shima ordered. "We don't need him summoning any spirits to help him."

Rin tried to wrench his arms free, but the two men's grip was far too strong for him, keeping him tightly in place as a cloth was shoved into his mouth and tied around the back of his head. He was pulled up by his arms and shoved forward as Shima left, bot even sparing a glance backwards as Rin was practically dragged along. The men forced his head down, but he could hear confused murmurs and the shuffling of feet growing louder and louder. He heard gasps and questions about what they were doing, but Shima kept his gaze ahead, eyes hard like stone. He knew that the people would follow him -- curiosity is a powerful thing.

The center of town wasn't far away, and in only a minute or two he was in the town square. There was a fire pit in the square that would be blazing with warm fire during the winter months, but now it was filled past the brim with fire wood. Shima glanced back at the men holding Rin and nodded, and with the signal, the men pushed Rin down to his knees in front of the growing crowd.

"What's the meaning of this?" Someone called.

"What are you doing to Rin?" Another shouted.

"That's our Rin!"

"Rin Okumura," Shima finally spoke, voice calm as he showed the crowd the Wanted poster. "Is guilty of the murder of Yukio Okumura and Shiro Fujimoto, as well as witchcraft and conspiring with the devil."

Murmuring started up amongst the crowd, though Rin could barely hear it over his heart pounding in his ears.

"He escaped prosecution in his last town and fled here! He bewitched you all with his demon magic, even our prince!"

The murmuring grew louder.

"How else could he work this entire village around his finger? How else could he seduce our prince? Rin Okumura is a demon, and he'll burn at the stake for his crimes against God! With his death, we will break the spell that he has cast upon us!" Shima shouted, and excitement ripppled amongst the crowd, showing excitement throughout the crowd.

"Kill the demon!"

"Burn him!"

Rin stared in growing horror as people continued to turn against him, people that he'd lived and laughed and worked with turning their backs to him for the lies of a priest. He couldn't even say a word in his own defense, couldn't explain anything to them, couldn't clarify anything. Even if he could, he knew that their glares filled with hatred and disgust would not dull. The odds were continuing to be stacked against him, and there wasn't anything he could do about it. A horrible sense of resignation came upon him, bringing tears to his eyes and tearing at his soul.

A shadow fell over him, and he looked up to see Bon standing before him. However, his relief was quickly erased in place of dread as Bon looked down at him with a look of betrayal and disgust -- with Rin or himself, he didn't know. Rin wanted so badly to explain, to tell everyone that this was all a misunderstanding, but the gag was tight on his mouth and he couldn't get a word out.

"Shima." Bon broke eye contact with Rin and glanced over at the priest, eyes narrowed.

"Let me."

And with those words, Rin's heart, and any hope he had, was smashed to pieces.

He had no will to resist as he was yanked back up again, arms untied only to be lashed to the cross that they had built. Ropes were tight around his waist and his ankles, though the pain was absolutely nothing in comparison to the horrible ripping feeling in his chest. He couldn't believe it. He didn't _want_ to believe it, but Shima was handing a torch to Bon, and he knew.

They truly believed he was a demon.

There were tears tracing tracks down his cheeks as Bon took the torch, but even as the villagers cheered and Bon threw the fire to the wood, he never felt anger. Not anger, not betrayal, no undying wish for vengeance -- just sadness, and regret, longing and grief.

"Ignosce eis Domine." He murmured to himself, words drowned out by the cheers of the villagers  

"Damnant quod non intellegunt."

The fire was spreading now, racing up his calves and over his knees.

"In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum."

He could feel the flames licking at his feet, and even as his skin began to bleed and burn, he forced himself to speak.

"Fiat mihi secundum verbum."

The villagers roared and screamed, shrieking bloody murder as the flames burned away at his legs and engulfed his torso.

" _Incepto ne desistam._ "

 

* * *

 

The town square was silent as the wind picked up ashes and embers, floating softly in the breeze.

The demon was gone, but the spell was not. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THAT ENDING KILLED ME!! SO BADLY!!! The entire oneshot, I was like "yeah, I got this!" and then I got to the end and I just DIED!! It was like I forgot how to write!
> 
> ANYWAYS, I tried my hardest to leave this oneshot open for interpretation, like the original creator of the song!
> 
> (Though that may have backfired on me, aha)
> 
> ;u;


	12. Nothing Much Has Changed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whenever Rin was upset, Shiro always seemed to know how to fix it. But now, Shiro's gone, and it's up to Yukio and the Exwires to pick back up the pieces after the Grigori just can't leave things be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *breathes in* I AM SO, SO SORRY ABOUT BEING GONE FOR SO LONG! The last two weeks were so hectic! Picking courses for next year, dealing with clingy ex boyfriends, doing school work and going to band practices -- things got really wild! Even so, there is a bigger excuse as to why I didn't update last Saturday that I think needs to be brought to your attention.
> 
> Okay, so y'all remember the Grown Up!Exwires fic I was talking about writing? Well, I am still planning on writing that, but it WILL NOT be posted in this story. I am planning to post it separately along with two other chapters and the Dyslexic!Rin oneshot (not really a oneshot now, is it?) in one collection. So, you will still have your grown up Exwires, but it will be in its own collection separate from this!
> 
> I think that's all I really have to say for here, but be sure to check out the notes at the end; I have a question for you guys!
> 
> This is just a feel-good chapter that I wanted to post to make up for all the torture I'm putting the Okumura twins through in upcoming chapters 
> 
> >:)

Rin is sent home from school with a note and dejected glare.

Shiro doesn't have to look at the note to see what had happened, he can see it in their body language. Rin is the first one through the monastery doors, trudging right past Shiro and through the halls to Yukio's bedroom. There's the sound of a door slam and then something heavy hitting the ground- most likely Rin's bookbag -and seconds afterwards he can hear the squeaking of the bed as it's sat on, then silence. He looks back down at Yukio, who's a strange mix of teary-eyed and frustrated as he picks up the envelope Rin had dropped on the ground. He takes the envelope from Yukio, and then the younger twin is following after Rin.

The other priests in the monastery peek at him from behind walls and door frames, silently asking him what had happened. Shiro just sighs and waves them off, sliding the envelope into his pocket and making his way to his office. He pushed the door open and closed it gently but firmly behind him, habit steering his feet towards his desk. He plops down into his chair and reaches down into the bottom most drawer, sliding it open and reaching around. Seconds later, his hand hits something, and he grabs it, pulling it out. Kurikara, the Koma sword. He glanced at the seal and makes sure it's intact, and even though it is, it doesn't lessen his worry. The sword is warm, and as the years pass it grows warmer, looking almost like it was vibrating with energy.

Shiro sighs again, placing the sword back in its drawer and closing it. It's foolish to think that Kurikara could ever fully hold Rin's power -- even as young as he is, Rin is easily on par with any mid to high level demon, and he'll only continue to grow stronger as the years go by. Rin is the son of Satan himself, and even half human, he's destined to become powerful; far too powerful for something as silly as an old heirloom to hold him back.

It's foolish to do so, but he hopes the sword will hold out, just a bit longer.

With the Koma sword put away, the envelope almost seems to become heavier in his pocket, as if demanding his attention. He reluctantly reaches down and withdraws it, the red wax standing out starkly against the pale yellow envelope. He breaks the seal and takes out the note within, though as he read through it, his heart sinks. Rin got into another fight, unsurprisingly, though it seems that, this time, no one was sent to the hospital. He breathes out another sigh of relief -- he seems to be doing that a lot lately. He really is becoming old.

Too old to deal with this, anyways.

Predictably, there's no reason as to why Rin got into the fight, just a warning at the bottom of the paper:

" _If Rin Okumura is written up one more time, he will not be invited to return again._ "

One more fight and Rin would be kicked out of his primary school. Shiro sets the note down and braces his arms on the table, leaning his head into his hands. Rin is a good kid, he knows, never once has he doubted that, but his adopted son is just so damn headstrong. He doesn't think, he just does -- he reacts, but he doesn't know how to react, and Shiro just doesn't know how to fix that.

He doesn't know how long he sits there in that position, but soon enough, he heard the squeak of his door opening, and in shuffled a small figure. Even though Yukio is eleven years old now and has already been training to be an Exorcist for four years, he's still just a kid. A blanket is pulled over Yukio's shoulders as he climbs up into Shiro's lap, and even though Shiro knows that Yukio is too old for things like this, he just wraps his arms around his youngest son and rests his chin on Yukio's head. There's a few moments of quiet before Yukio musters up the nerve to speak, and even theme his voice is weak, raspy from crying.

"Nii-san's getting worse, isn't he?"

Shiro resists the urge to sigh again, telling himself that Yukio needs him to be strong. "Kurikara can only hold so much."

It's neither a yes or a no, something Yukio picks up on quickly. He's perceptive, Shiro knows, almost to a frightening degree.

"You can tell me," Yukio says quietly. "I can handle it."

"Perhaps so, but you don't _have_ to-"

_Crash!!_

Yukio is out of Shiro's lap in seconds, and before Shiro can even blink, the younger twin is gone, leaning an abandoned blanket and a swinging door in his wake. Shiro follows close after him, but Yukio's already darting towards the kitchen while Shiro is still in the doorway. He cursed his old age as he follows as quickly as he can, tracking Yukio's footsteps before they suddenly come to a harsh stop. Eyebrows furrowing, Shiro picks up his pace only to come to a screechinghalt as Yukio is suddenly in front of him. He almost trips over Yukio, but catches himself on the door frame.

He looks down to see Yukio frozen in the door way, eyes wide and breath caught in his throat. Shiro looks into the kitchen to see what Yukio is staring at, only to feel his stomach fall down to his feet.

Rin is standing in the middle of the kitchen, shoulders tense and eyes hidden by his wild hair. There's a shattered plate on the ground, and some sort of food splattered all over the floor. Izumo is staring at Rin, wide-eyed, while Nagatomo looks incredibly worried, glancing up at Shiro. The head priest jerks his head to the side, and Nagatomo nods, crossing the kitchen to grab Izumi and drag him out. Once they're both gone, Shiro draws in a deep breath, pats Yukio on the head, and jumps straight into the fire.

No pun intended, of course.

"What'd you go and drop the plate for, huh?" He asks, inwardly congratulating himself on how steady his voice is.

However, the small amount of pride that had welled up was quickly dead he'd down as Rin looks up at Shiro. The head priest feels as if his breath has been locked out of him. Shock, regret, anger, sadness, bitternes -- how was it possible for so many emotions to be in one eleven year old's eyes? Shiro purses his lips and kneels down by Rin, fingers reaching out to touch the shattered pieces of the plate. Rin looks back down at his feel, small hands clenched tightly as tears start to drip from his eyes.

"I-I didn't mean to," Rin eventually gets out. "I j-just, I got angry, thinkin' about today, 'n the plate started crackin' 'n it scared me 'n I dropped it 'n I'm really sorry-"

"It's okay, Rin," Shiro says softly. "It was an accident."

Rin's voice quivers. "B-But..."

"It's just a plate, Rin, it's alright."

"They called me a demon!"

Shiro's eyes widen and his head snaps up to look at Rin's, tears falling in rivers from such hurt blue eyes.

"They keep callin' me a demon!" Rin sobs, rubbing at his eyes with clenched fists. "Cuz I'm breaking things all the time! I'm trying, daddy, I'm trying, but I keep messin' up 'n I dunno how to fix it!"

It's then that things click into place for Shiro. All of this -- it wasn't because Rin was upset over some stupid plate, no, it ran much, much deeper than that. Rin had always seemed to brush off everything that people threw at him, seemed to just not care about those who called him 'demon child' under their breath or even to their face, but he saw now that Rin did care; he always had.

Mind made, Shiro stands up, taking a second to stretch his back before making his way over to the cabinet. Rin watches him with tears, confused eyes as Shiro opens the cabinet and takes out a plate from the same set as the broken one. Shiro gives it a critical look-over, nods...

And then promptly throws the plate right on to the round.

Both Yukio and Rin yelp as the plate shatters, eyes wide.

"What'dya do that for?!" Rin cries.

"If breaking things makes you a demon, then I guess that I am one too." Shiro declares simply.

Rin stared at him in shock, but after a few seconds, Yukio moves. The younger twin glanced over at Rin hesitantly, but upon seeing the tear tracks glistening on Rin's cheeks, his expression grows determined. He matches right over to the cabinet Shiro was standing by, reaches yo and grabs another plate. Without hesitation, Yukio throws the plate as hard as he can, looking victorious as it shatters on the ground.

"And me too!" Yukio says firmly, looking Rin straight in the eyes.

There's another crash, and the three look over to see Maruta, chuckling as the trio look at the shattered mug on the ground. It looked like Maruta had accidentally knocked it over upon leaning on the counter. "Hehe, looks like I'm a demon too."

Izumi and Nagatomo seem it safe enough to make their presence known, smiling and laughing.

"Although I'd like to avoid the property damage, I'm with you guys," Izumo snickers. He then kneels down, holding a hand to his mouth and stage whispering to Rin. "Though, if anyone's the demon here, it's gotta be that slave driver, Nagatomo-"

Izumo recoils as Nagatomo lightheartedly slaps the back the back of his head, rolling his eyes and chuckling as Izumi retreats to a safer distance.

"As sweet as this is," Nagatomo smiles wryly. "Our plates are still shattered."

"We'll buy new ones," Shiro replies nonchalantly. "Those were ugly anyways."

"That's not what I meant!" Nagatomo laughs.

Yukio suddenly realizes what the brunette priest is getting at, blushing a bright red. "O-oh, we can help clean up-"

"Nonsense. You and Rin go wash up for dinner, we'll handle this." Maruta smiles.

Izumi shoos the twins out of the kitchen as Nagatomo and Maruta retrieve the broom and dustpan. Just before Rin leaves, Shiro grabs him by the shoulder, stopping the sixth grader. Rin looks up in confusion, and Shiro's relieved to see that the years have stopped. He smiles, squeezing Rin's shoulder. "Don't forget that your family is always here for you, alright?"

Rin's eyes widen for a second, and then he grins. "Yeah, yeah, old man, now lemme go wash my hands!"

Shiro rolls his eyes, muttering something about 'disrespect' and 'kids these days' as he lets Rin go, watching the twins race each other to the bathroom.

Things are far from fixed, but Rin and Yukio are smiling and happy, and that's what matters.

They'll figure everything else out later.

 

* * *

 

  
Rin's an Exorcist now, Yukio muses to himself. Rin finally managed to put the time and effort into studying and training for the exam, and now he's finally done it. He passed -- he's an Exorcist now, just like Yukio. His booksmarts barely made him a lower second class, though his sword skills and even his taming of Kuro placed him at an upper second, levelling him out to a middle second class. It was better than they ever could have hoped for, and as soon as the news got out, the Exwires had decided to throw a party. Everyone was coming up with ways to contribute, even Shura, but as they turn to Rin, they realize that the half demon has already left, tail dragging on the ground as he trudged back to the old boys' dormitory.

Yes, Rin may be an Exorcist now, but for Yukio, he's hardly changed.

"What's wrong with him?" Konekomaru asks in concern.

"He's not pissed ahout his rank, is he?" Shima jokes, though his voice is tinged with worry. "Because he did awesome, considering he only had six months to prepare!"

Yukio can feel their curious eyes on him, and normally he'd bush their questions off, but he knows that he can't do that this time. Rin needs the support of his friends, after what Yukio had seen happen after the exam.

"The Grigori," He starts quietly, rubbing at his eyes. "Decided to pass him, but not without another warning."

"They didn't." Shura breathes, catching on far faster than the others.

Yukio grimaces, nodding. "They told him that even though he had successfully managed to pass, he was still considered dangerous and would remain under surveillance at all times."

Shiemi's hands shoot up to her mouth, green eyes wide with horror. Konekomaru's hands are clenched tightly and his eyebrows are furrowed in frustration. Izumo's clenching her teeth together tightly, and both Bon and Shura look as if they're about to march right back into the Grigori's hearing room and strangle the three of the. Shima, however, still looks confused.

"Why would that make him so pissy?" Shima asks.

"Rin's killin' himself tryin' to prove himself to them," Bon growls darkly. "They're basically tellin' him that no matter what he does, he's still nothin' but a dangerous demon to them."

"A big 'fuck you' to everythin' Rin's been workin' for." Shura mutters.

Yukio nods towards Shura. "While I wouldn't put it so crudely, yes."

"Well, I ain't gonna let him just brush this off again," Bon snaps as he stands up from one of the benches lining the grand hallway. "We're gonna talk this shit out."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Izumo says.

"Why, you got a better suggestion?!"

"Yeah, and it's called letting him cool off first!"

"But what if he needs someone to talk to?" Shiemi asks worriedly.

Yukio sighs as the Exwires continue to argue back and forth about what they should do. He remembers a situation like this happening before, when he and his brother were younger, in sixth grade or so. Rin had gone into the second semester determined to be good, to be nice to everyone and prove that he was normal. Rin managed to hold onto that for about a month, even as his classmates and teachers threw his efforts back into his face. They treated him like dirt, but Rin seemingly never let it get to him.

That was, until one day during lunch. A gang of boys had cornered him outside the cafeteria, hitting and kicking him and screaming at his brother that he'd never be accepted, that he would never be anything but True Cross' Demon Child.

Rin had tried to defend himself, and it was at that point that a teacher finally intervened, only to lecture Rin about not harassing his classmates. The gang of boys had gotten off scott-free, but Rin was sent home with a latter and three days OSS. That incident had hit far harder than any of the names they had called him, harder than any of the fights or lectures or anything else they tormented him with. Luckily, Shiro had always been there to pick up the pieces, but... Shiro was dead now

So, it was up to him and the Exwires.

Though, his students' debate was becoming increasingly more heated, mainly because of Bon and Izumo.

Yukio reaches inside his pocket and withdraws his ring of keys, flipping them around until he finally comes across the one leading to their form. The Exwires don't even notice as he makes his way to one of the many doors lining the hallways, inserting his key and stepping inside (though he leaves the door open for the Exwires to come through when they finally stop arguing).

His feet echo in the empty hallways leading from the dorm's entrance, and he already knows where Rin is hiding away. One thing that hadn't changed over the years was that cooking was always a comforting thing for Rin, and whenever he was upset, he could usually be found in the kitchen. As expected, when he reaches the dorm cafeteria, he can hear pots and pans being shifted in the kitchen. There's the shuffling of cloth and the slight 'shff'ing of what must be Rin's tail dragging along the ground.

Yukio steps closer to the kitchen and leans against the door frame, finally able to see Rin now. The half demon is shuffling across the kitchen, grabbing ingredients from the cabinets and placing them on the counter by the stove. Brownies, by the look of it, but judging by the amount of chocolate Rin's pulling out, they have to be at least triple chocolate. Even if Yukio hadn't witness what had happened back in the hearing room with the Grigori, the would have been enough to tell him that something was very, very wrong.

There's a minute or so of silence as Rin continues what he's doing, before he stops. Yukio watches as Rin leans against the counter, and even though his twin's back is to him, he can see the trembling of Rin's shoulders, the white-knuckled grip he has on the counter.

"What's the point of trying to prove myself?" Rin asks quietly, voice thick with tears and frustration. "No matter what I do, all they see me as is a _demon_."

Yukio is quiet for a moment, and then he exhales, closing his eyes.

"There is no point." He replies. He doesn't have to look to know that Rin is staring at him, having obviously expected something much different. "The Grigori are foolish and stuck in their ways, nii-san. They hate you and everything that you are, and I highly doubt that that will change any time soon."

Rin scoffs, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. "Trust me, I'm well aware."

"They hate you, and they'll do anything they can to make your life hell. They're doing this to get under your skin, to keep you compliant and eager to do whatever they want you to do in order to prove yourself." Yukio continues, opening his eyes to look at Rin. "By doing this, by doing everything you can to prove yourself to them -- you're giving them your power, nii-san."

Rin is staring at him, wide-eyed, but Yukio powers on, determined to prove this point to his twin.

"You don't _have_ to prove yourself to them. The second you stop worrying so much about it, they lose a majority of their power over you. They can no longer control you any more than they control me or any other Exorcist. You don't need to prove yourself to anyone, nii-san, because the ones who truly care about you can see past your heritage and to who Rin Okumura really is."

"Four-eyes is right, y'know," A voice suddenly speaks, and both twins look up to see Shura standing in the doorway, the Exwires behind her. She grins, a hand on her hip. "Yer too damn stupid to be a."

"Hey!" Rin protests half-heartedly, but he can't fight the smile as he wipes at his eyes.

"This is nice and all," Izumo interrupts impatiently, ignoring Bon's glare. "But I see chocolate over there, so could we maybe continue this _while_ Okumura's cooking?"

"Well, that wasn't rude at all." Bon mutters sourly under his breath.

Izumo snaps around to glare at him, eyes narrowed. "Do you have something you wanna say to me?!"

"Yeah, and-!"

A second later they're both crouching on the floor, clutching at their heads as Shura glares at them both, fist still held up from where she struck them both.

"I thought I told you to stop arguing already!" She snaps.

Rin can't help but laugh at Bon and Izumo as Shura chews them out, looking over at Yukio. Yukio gives his twin a hint of a smile and Rin returns it two fold before turning to the ingredients still lined up on the counter, still grinning all the while.

Even though he's an Exorcist now, he's still surrounded by people who love and care about him, people who accept him for who he is.

So, really, nothing much has changed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! So this question isn't too direly important, just a matter of curiosity. 
> 
> I've had many people mention my writing style, and I want to ask y'all: How is my writing style different from other authors?


	13. Overprotective, Much?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, helping family members with mental illnesses isn't easy. Yukio can't help Rin with his autism all by his lonesome, but thankfully the Exwires are there to help out!
> 
> (And fend off the fangirls, of course)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *gasp* An update on Wednesday? You mean she actually has some chapters written out and isn't writing them at the last minute????!!!!!
> 
> Hehe, hi guys, I just wanted to update today to make up for the update I missed -- what was it, last Saturday? The Saturday before? One of those. So, unfortunately, this won't be a permanent thing, updating on Wednesdays, so enjoy the early chapters while you can!
> 
> Okay, so this oneshot was requested by two readers, one of which requested an Autistic!Okumura twins fic (I am most likely going to end up writing a second oneshot, one to focus on Yukio while this one focuses on Rin) and an overprotective!Exwires fic! So, I decided to smash them together, and hopefully it didn't turn out too horrendous ^^'
> 
> Also, I do not have Autism. All of this information is from research and what I've gathered from the user who requested this (thank you for all your help, btw!). Some of this may be inaccurate, and some things I discuss in here don't apply to all people with Autism. Just tread lightly, and know that this is just for fun :)
> 
> Enjoy the fluff while it lasts >:) The angst starts rolling in next chapter

Rin was diagnosed with autism when he was a year and a half old.

Shiro had known that something was wrong when Rin was a year old and still not speaking a word to anyone. Rin never responded to his name, or even people waving at him, and whenever someone would try to take his toys away to get his attention, he'd just frown and snatch it back and keep on playing. Shiro had initially brushed off Rin's lack of response to his name, just taking Rin to the doctor to ask about him not talking. The doctor had simply told Shiro that perhaps Rin was mute, or maybe he was developing more slowly than others his age.

The biggest sign that something was very, very wrong was just a few months after Rin and Yukio had turned one. All the sudden, Rin was repeating anything and everything people said around him, not even once stumbling over words that, at times, were easily college-level vocabulary. Yukio, being as young and naive as he was, thought it was some sort of game, and squealed happily whenever it happened. Rin had no interest in indulging his brother, or anyone his age, just tottering around the monastery by himself and repeating any phrases he heard.

Shiro took Rin to the doctor again, who then referred them to a psychologist. The psychologist was a kind looking man who specialized in child developmental disorders, and who had a little play room set up for children that he was working with. Rin had been set free to explore the play room while Shiro and the psychologist talked, but only minutes into their conversation, the psychologist suddenly hushed Shiro. The two adults watched on as Rin repeatedly pet the leg of the little table, eyes transfixed on the wood.

"Rin?" Shiro had called softly. "Why don't you play with the toys, hmm?"

But Rin didn't answer, earning a sigh from Shiro. The head priest looked over at the psychologist, feeling tired beyond his years.

"He's never interested in playing pretend with his brother, or even toys in general." Shiro murmured. "I don't know what's wrong with him."

Soon enough, Rin was diagnosed with autism, and even though he was able to undergo therapy, which reduced his symptoms dramatically, his autism frequently reminded them that it was still there.

It wasn't long after that when he developed his obsession, but thankfully it was something that benefitted all of them. Rin was obsessed with cooking -- any and all types of cooking. All he wanted to do was cook, all he wanted to talk about was cooking, and the only thing he would watch on TV were shows like Hell's Kitchen and Iron Chef and Chopped and the like. Shiro really wouldn't have even known if it weren't for that, as Rin didn't seem to have any interest in showing Shiro any of the things he was interested in, unlike Yukio and other children.

Sometimes, it was difficult for Shiro, and especially Yukio, to cope with. There were a lot of things that Rin just couldn't understand, no matter how many times they tried to explain it to him. Rin didn't understand why his classmates would bully Yukio, nor did he understand that it wasn't okay to punch or kick said classmates for badmouthing Yukio. He didn't understand why he couldn't just walk off wherever he wanted, nor why Yukio and Shiro seemed so scared every time he did. It frustrated Rin, that he didn't understand these things, and it often made him lash out at those around him, which really didn't help his social standing.

Coping with Rin's _autism_ was difficult for both Rin himself and his family, but thankfully, Shiro was always there to help, always there to mediate and explain. Rin may have not outwardly displayed affection towards Shiro, but he did listen to the head priest far more than he listened to anyone else. Rin just wasn't affectionate towards many people, and sometimes things like that frustrated Yukio. He knew that Rin couldn't help it, but Yukio could only take so much -- and when he couldn't take any more, Shiro was always there to help him take a step back and calm down.

Until he wasn't.

Yukio hadn't seen Rin since Shiro's death, and even though he knew that it was dangerous to leave Rin alone, he couldn't bring himself to care. Yukio was grieving and and angry and even though he knew that it wasn't Rin's fault, some part of him still blamed his twin. He even began to blame and hate Rin's disorder -- if it weren't for that, Rin wouldn't have lashed out like he did, Rin would be able to understand his grief, Rin would be able to be there for him even though Yukio knew that he would have shoved his twin away.

Rin had somehow managed to show up for the funeral, though Yukio wished he hadn't. He shouldn't have been surprised that Rin had showed up in his street clothes, but he was he was shocked, and angry. Yukio knew that Rin couldn't have known that you were supposed to wear black to a funeral, but it still caused all those emotions hidden under his icy mask to go into a frenzy again. He was a whirlwind of anger and sadness and hatred and he should have left when he had the chance, but he didn't.

Yukio was kneeling down by Shiro's grave when Rin finally spoke, hands shoved into his pockets and a new sword slung over his back.

"Ne, Yukio? Why's everyone so sad?" Rin asked innocently.

Yukio contemplated not answering, but decided against it. He knew that Rin was grieving in his own way, that his twin most likely didn't even understand the emotions he was experiencing and needed help sorting through them. Rin needed Yukio to be there for him.

"Because we're at a funeral." Yukio answered quietly.

"Yeah, I know that, but why are they so sad?" Rin pressed, sounding frustrated. "It's not like dad's died again or something, they're just putting his body in the ground."

Yukio's eyes widened, then abruptly narrowed. Anger and hatred was starting to overpower his self-control. He fought it back down as he stood up, almost unable to even see his brother through his rain-streaked glasses. Rin looked confused and frustrated, though that only served to make Yukio angrier.

"They're remembering his life." His voice was clipped and icy, something Rin failed to pick up on.

"Then why are they crying?"

Yukio clenched his teeth tightly. "Because they're remembering his life and mourning his death, they're sad because they're letting him go."

"Oh," Rin looked up at his brother again, looking entirely too relaxed and nonchalant to be standing by his father's grave in the rain.

"Should I be sad, too?"

And that was when Yukio snapped.

"Of course you should be! Dad is dead -- don't you feel anything?!" Yukio shouted, body practically vibrating with rage. "How can you just stand there and act like nothing happened?! You killed him!!"

It wasn't until a few seconds later that Yukio realized what he had just said, and quickly snapped his mouth shut. He turned on his heel and made his way out of the graveyard, unable to stand being around Rin for any longer. His anger slowly faded as he trudged back to his dorm room, and regret quickly came in its place. He shouldn't have said that to Rin, it wasn't Rin's fault.

But wasn't it? He'd seen Shiro's dead body. Shiro had been possessed, by Satan, no less. His father never would have let a demon into his heart. He was their strongest Exorcist and the only one who could resist Satan's possession. The only way that the ruler of Gehenna would have been able to get into Shiro is if the head priest was seat a deadly spiritual wound by someone he cared about.

Rin was the only person there, so wasn't it his fault?

Yukio didn't know what to think, and he had no one to help him through it. The relationship between him and his brother was strained and awkward at best (which was mostly Yukio's own fault), and there was no way in hell that he was going to talk to Shura about it (even though he knew she had been close to Shiro and was grieving just as much as he was). He only had himself to depend on, but even he could see that that was not enough. His mental state was degrading every day, and so was his patience with his brother. He knew it was only a matter of time until he snapped again.

Which was why his Exwire class was a complete and utter Godsend.

Lesson plans and mission trips took over his thoughts, and his unresolved grief and anger was shoved off to the side. He threw himself into his school work and teaching, hardly even throwing a backwards thought towards his brother, or anything else.

That wasn't to say that he didn't he didn't see how Rin was struggling with this sudden change in environment, he just forced himself not to care -- until the Exwires took it upon themselves to ask about Rin.

 

* * *

 

  
"Hey, sensei?"

Yukio looked up from his paperwork to see his Exwire class huddled up in front of his desk (minus Takara and Yamada, of course). "Yes? May I help you?"

"We actually have a question, about Okumura." Bon said, seemingly the spokesperson of their little group.

"And what's that?" Even though he was far, far from happy with his twin, Yukio's voice still took on a defensive tone. Conversations like these never went well -- for those who asked.

"Well, we wanna know what the hell exactly is up with him," Bon replied bluntly, leaning against one of the desks and crossing his arms.

"Yeah, he seems a little... not right in the head." Shima laughed.

"He falls asleep in class all the time and doesn't even seem to care," Izumo continued irritably. "And he doesn't even respond when you call his name!"

"Not even when you wave at him." Shiemi added.

"What, is he retarded or something?" Shima joked.

Yukio's glasses flashed dangerously as he stared Shima down. "Yes, yes he is."

The pink-haired boy's mouth snapped shut, color instantly draining out of his face. "I-I didn't mean-"

"Of course you didn't," Yukio muttered sarcastically, looking back down at his papers as Konekomaru glared and slapped Shima sharply on the back of the head. "If you're just here to complain about the mental state of my brother, I recommend you leave now."

A subtle threat, but a threat nonetheless.

Konekomaru fought down his nervousness and stepped a bit closer to Yukio. "W-What was he diagnosed with?"

Yukio glanced up again, raising an eyebrow at the genuine curiosity in Konekomaru's voice.

"He's autistic."

 

* * *

 

  
To Yukio's complete and utter surprise, the Exwires didn't end up using that information to bully his brother -- no, they researched day and night how to interact with autistic people in order to get closer to Rin. They slowly but surely made their ways into Rin's life. They even set up a study group specifically to help Rin, and each other, as well. One of them always knew when Yukio was starting to reach his breaking point and would invite Rin over to give Yukio some time to cool off.

As time went by, Yukio grew increasingly more grateful for the Exwires. He no longer had to shoulder the burden of Rin's mental illness alone. He had the Exwires to share it with, classmates who not only cared about Rin but Yukio himself, as well. Shiemi was always there when he needed some down time, and Konekomaru had gently pushed Shura and Yukio closer together when Yukio finally spilled about Shiro's death. He had his classmates to help him with Rin, and Shura to help him with Shiro's passing.

The training camp was when everything started to take a nose dive.

 

* * *

 

  
"Hey, Bon, what was the homework last night?"

The Exwires were making their way across the campus as a group -- well, most of the Exwires were. Rin was tagging along despite the hostile air, not realizing their sudden change in opinion of him. Izumo was the only one who didn't care about his heritage, walking beside Rin and scowling darkly at the others.

"Are you ignoring me?" Rin asked again. "Did I do something?"

"Just back the hell off already, demon spawn!" Bon snapped suddenly, spinning around to glare at Rin with every ounce of hatred in his body. The rest of the Exwires stopped, watching on quietly.

Rin's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at Bon. "Is this about Satan being my biological dad?"

"Of course it is!" Bon shouted, eyes narrowed in rage.

"Why are you angry about that?" Rin seemed utterly confused, which only made Izumo sigh.

"Your dad killed a lot of people! He killed Shima's brother, Koneko's parents and hundreds of other Exorcists! Why the hell _wouldn't_ I be angry?!"

"Because I'm not my dad," Rin said simply. The confusion had faded away to a hurt look, and even though he still didn't understand why Bon was so angry, it hurt that the Aria-in-training was yelling at him. Weren't they friends?

"C'mon, Rin," Izumo said suddenly, grabbing the half demon by the back of the shirt as she glared daggers at the Exwires. "You don't need to be around cowards and assholes like these."

She pulled him away from the group as he looked at them all with such a confused and hurt look. He didn't want to leave them yet, he wanted to know why they were so upset. He wanted to make things better. Had he done something? What did he do to make them upset?

Later that night, Izumo had to explain to Rin that the Exwires didn't want to be his friends anymore.

 

* * *

 

  
Before Yukio could even see it coming, their little family had dropped down to just him, Rin, Shura and Izumo. Yukio wasn't as affected by the Exwires' sudden change in heart as Rin was, but Izumo was there to help him through it. Even when the Exwires eventually apologized to Rin and accepted him back (seeing Rin so hurt and confused at their betrayal had infected them with guilt, and they had decided that there was just no way Rin could be evil), Izumo was still closer to Rin than she was with the others.

Rin had been quick to forgive his classmates (perhaps too quick, Yukio though to himself), having missed his friends terribly. The Exwires soon began to feel horrible about what they had done and apologized over and over to Rin before the half demon grew frustrated and shouted at them that it was fine, he hardly even remembered what they had done in the first place. Things settled back down to the way they used to be, but as years went by, they grew increasingly more protective of Rin.

Perhaps a little too much.

 

* * *

 

 

"Um, Rin?"

Rin turned around to face the girl who had addressed him, his normal smile turning up the corners of his lips. "Oh, hey! You're the girl from my APHG class, right?"

"Mmhmm," The girl nodded shyly. "Y-You see, I was w-wondering if, maybe, we could-"

"Rin? What're you doing out here?"

Yet another voice caught his attention, and the girl was quickly forgotten as Konekomaru made his way over to the half demon. Rin grinned happily as his friend came to a stop next to him, looping a thin arm through Rin's. Once Konekomaru had overcome his nervousness, he'd become a little clingy towards Rin. Through trial and error, he'd figured out that Rin was okay with physical touch as long as it didn't inhibit him from doing what he wanted. Thus, the arm linking, where Konekomaru could easily let go if Rin started walking away from him.

"Oh, this is one of my classmates from APHG -- what's your name again?"

Konekomaru saw the offended look on the girl's face and instinctively moved a little in front of Rin.

"My name is-"

"Okumura! Hey, class is about to start, what are you doing?"

Konekomaru glanced behind him to see Shima standing on one of the sidewalks, giving him a look that Rin didn't notice. Konekomaru nodded and gently tugged Rin towards Shima, more suggesting that they go rather than forcing Rin to leave.

"C'mon, you know Okumura-sensei will lock us out if we're late." Konekomaru joked, smiling softly.

The girl stared, wide-eyed and gaping as Konekomaru and Rin left without even so much as a goodbye to join the pink haired boy on the sidewalk. Shima glanced over at the girl and grinned, the message in his eyes clear. She glared at him and Konekomaru as they steered her crush away. Okay, so maybe it was a little rude that Rin forgot her name, but what was even ruder was the little giggle and wink Konekomaru sent her over his shoulder. Oh, they definitely knew what they were doing, taking her crush away from her like that.

They were staking their claim on Rin, but they didn't know that she always got what she wanted!

 

The next day, she cornered Rin again, determined to ask her question this time.

"Rin!" She called, running to catch up with him. He turned around and smiled, as usual, though it turned a little confused as she pursed her lips. "Would you like to go out and get something to eat with me?"

"Huh?" Rin asked, eyebrows furrowing. "Oh, no thanks, I'm not hungry."

A girl with purple pigtails suddenly appeared next to Rin, a haughty look on her face and a hand on her hip. Izumo gave the girl a critical once-over, lip twitching in disgust.

"I doubt you'd ever be hungry enough to eat with an ugly girl like that, Rin." Izumo sniffed, taking him by the arm and tugging him away from the girl. "We have a study group this afternoon, let's go."

Rin let Izumo drag him along, not even sparing the girl a backwards glance. Once again, she was left gaping, but this only served to to strengthen her resolve. Later that week, she caught him after school, on a friday when she was sure that he didn't have any more classes nor any 'study groups' to go to.

"I want to go on a-"

Her words died in her mouth as a new firgure approached them, this one a tall and terrifying boy that towered over her, adorned with multitudes of piercings and a fierce scowl. He threw an arm over Rin's shoulder, who's cheeks flushed as the tall boy pulled him close.

"You got somethin' to say to Rin?" Bon asked, voice a low growl.

The girl was far too scared to say anything, just nodding her head furiously as she scrambled away.

(Rin was perpetually confused by Bon's laughter every time he remembered the girl, but brushed it off as a Bon Thing™)

The next time she saw him, she swore to herself that she was finally going to say it. Disregarding Rin's brother walking right next to him, the girl came to a stop in front of Rin and finally shouted out what she'd been wanting to say for days.

"I want to go on a date with you!!"

The Okumura twins stood in stunned silence for a minute, but Yukio was the first to react. Yukio chuckled under his breath, a condescending kind of laugh that made her cheeks flush in embarrassment.

"My brother hardly has any time to be messing around with girls, miss." Yukio snickered. "Perhaps another time."

And then Rin was gone again.

It was a few days later when she finally saw him again, surrounded by his friends, talking and laughing as he worked on his homework. The girl was with her friends, sobbing and crying as she was comforted by the girls surrounding her. She caught sight of Rin, and before the other girls could stop her, she was marching across the field towards the water fountain that they were sitting by, face red and tears running down her cheeks. Her friends followed close behind, drawing the attention of the Exwires.

Rin eventually noticed her, not even noticing the look on her face. "Oh, hey, APHG girl!"

"Are you all dating or something?!" She demanded, fueled by her own hurt and offense that Rin _still_ couldn't remember her name.

Bon looked up to glare at the girl, but it was Shima who responded.

"Of course not!" He laughed. "What makes you-"

"I've been trying to ask you on a date for days now!" She practically screeched at Rin.

"Huh?" Rin's eyes widened just a fraction, before his eyebrows furrowed. "But I don't like you like that."

The girls surrounding her made similar sounds of offense and anger while Izumo held a hand up to her mouth to muffle her snickering. Even Bon was grinning at this point, but, unknown to the rest of them, Shiemi was getting increasingly irritated with this girl.

"So you've been pulling me along this entire time?!"

"What?"

"I like you!" She shouted.

"Oh, you do?" Rin asked, oblivious to Shima, who could hardly breathe through his laughter.

"You didn't know that?!" She was barely even legible through her tears, lashing out at him. "What are you, retarded?!"

Ooh.

Yeesh.

Let's all just take a moment to pray for this idiot.

Shiemi was up on her feet in seconds, stepping around the Exwires and raising her hand-

Just to slap the girl right across the face.

"That was incredibly rude of you!" Shiemi snapped, dainty expression twisted in anger. "You don't deserve someone like Rin!"

The girls' friends quickly regained their senses and started pulling the girl away. Shiemi huffed and made her way back to her spot, plopping back down and sitting with her arms crossed. The Exwires stared at her in numb silence, before she eventually blushed and asked what they were looking at. Seconds later, Shima started laughing, and Konekomaru followed close behind, and soon enough they were all laughing -- even Rin, who didn't fully understand what exactly had happened.

Well, as long as Rin didn't mind...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I wanted to reassure you that although the characters may say some things, that doesn't mean that that represents my own opinions -- though surely you're all smart enough to realize that! And when Yukio affirms that Rin IS retarded, I was looking at this definition: "less advanced in mental, physical, or social development than is usual for one's age." I know the term is usually used in negative ways, and there was absolutely no offense intended, I was just going by the literal definition of the word :)
> 
> Okay, so I have another question for you guys. Should I start posting oneshots separate from this story? If I post oneshots as their own stories, I can actually dedicate them to people who request them, and I'll also be able to see which ones you guys like more and which ones you don't like so much. Comment below what you think!


	14. Save Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He submitted to them years ago -- months? Weeks? Decades? He didn't remember anymore (he felt empty). There was a reason he was here. He was Satan's bastard. No, that wasn't it either. Protect. Yes, he had someone to protect. SomeONES to protect. 
> 
> Who were they?
> 
> He didn't remember anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! So, this chapter is actually a prequel/preview of another story that I'm planning on making! The story follows Yukio and Shura's son as he works to become an Exorcist, only to find that the Vatican is hiding something from all of them -- and he wants to know what! I'll leave the summary for the story (subject to change) down in the notes at the end, but for now, read and tell me what you think!

Wake up. Tests. Eat. Tests. Pass out.

Wake up. Tests. Eat. Tests. Pass out.

Wake up. Tests. No food today. Tests. Pass out.

Was there ever a time in his life where his day _didn't_ follow this rigid schedule? Surely there had to have been. He remembers sunlight -- or was that just the bright overhanging light in the operating room? Was the scent of grass, the feeling of soft sheets, the taste of something other than fruit all just a hallucination?

He was having a lot of those lately.

Sometimes, the cold metal of his cell turned into the soft lights and colors of another room. He liked those hallucinations best. If he was lucky, there was someone else in there with him. Sometimes, it was a brown haired boy with glasses that gently chided him for sitting around all day. Sometimes, it was a girl with the world's forests in her eyes as she summoned all types of plants from her small green demon. Sometimes, it was a different boy, as intense and wild as a dragon with a bright fire burning in his dark brown eyes. Other times, it was an odd man in a white suit that did nothing but stare at him sadly, bearing a somber expression that contrasted sharply with his odd get up.

Sometimes the hallucinations weren't that nice.

Sometimes, it was a small boy who cowered and shrieked whenever he looked at him. Sometimes, that brunette boy's glasses flashed dangerously as he withdrew two gleaming guns. Sometimes, the girl with red eyes and purple hair left him at the mercy of her two beautiful yet vicious white foxes. Sometimes, the fire in that boy's eyes was turned on him, hands held close together as he chanted verses that left him screaming and writhing in agony.

That always made his chest ache.

Maybe, once upon a time, it hurt. A sharp, harsh pain. He remembered crying, sobbing and wailing for hours when the horrid visions passed.

Did he still cry?

He felt empty.

Did the men and women remove part of his chest in their tests?

Surely they must have.

He feels empty.

He feels empty.

No food today -- they forget sometimes. There had been a few times where they withheld food from him for not cooperating. His demonic nature kept him alive, but forever stuck in a constant state of starving to death and being revived.

He didn't resist anymore.

(He felt empty)

No, that wasn't why. He wasn't always starving. He submitted to them years ago -- months? Weeks? Decades? He didn't remember anymore (he felt empty). There was a reason he was here. He was Satan's bastard. No, that wasn't it either. Protect. Yes, he had someone to protect. Someones to protect.

(Why did he always feel so empty?)

"I had someone." He murmured quietly. "Who? Who?"

"No one." A voice replied.

He frowned. "A boy."

"You had no one."

"The boy with glasses."

"You don't know anyone like that."

"Yukio."

"You exist to serve us, so be quiet."

"Bon." He breathed. He can remember them now (the void, they fill the void). "Izumo, Shiemi, Shima, Shura, Koneko, Paku-"

"Be quiet."

He can feel the tears in his eyes (He still cried?). "Shiro, I want Shiro."

"You killed him. He's dead. You burned him up with those flames of yours."

(He doesn't deserve to cry.)

"I want to see them." He pleaded. "Let me see them."

(The void, the void, I want the ones who fill the void.)

"You have an test scheduled."

"I want to see them!"

"Stop squirming. Be quiet."

"I want to see them!" He wailed, struggling as much as his thin, tired limbs would let him. "I want to see them!! _Let me see them!!"_

There's a sharp prick in his arm, and his eyes widened as he realized what it was.

Sedatives (the void, deepen the void).

He doesn't want to sleep- (the void, he wants to fill the void).

He's not tired-

(He doesn't want to sleep.)

He wants to stay awake-

(He wants to live)

He doesn't want to-

His vision is already hazing over, the bright lights in the hallway merging together in an effort to blind him. There's metal beneath him again and it's rattling furiously as it's pushed down the smooth tiles. He struggled in vain against the leather straps holding him down, but suddenly there are cold hands holding his face. He looks up to see slitted yellow eyes staring down at him, filled with a whole slew of emotions that he doesn't recognize anymore.

(Don't make me go to sleep.)

"Destroy everything." The voice said. "I don't want a single memory left."

His stomach drops -- what are they doing? The yellow eyes seem to glow brighter, and everything fades out-

Only to be replaced by nothing short of _pure agony._

 

* * *

 

 

Far beyond the Vatican, a young man freezes -- a scream, he swore he just heard a scream. His glasses glint in the sunlight as his head whips around, searching for the source of the pained shriek and his sudden feeling of unease. Something is wrong, he knows. He can feel it deep in his chest.

"Yukio?" The woman beside him glanced over at the brunette, green eyes looking confused.

"Something's not right." He muttered. "Rin..."

Realization hits him like a truck.

_"RIN!!"_

 

* * *

 

_Yukio's jaw clenched in rage, body shivering with hatred for the robed figures before him. "You think I'm just going to keep working for you, after what you did?!"_

_They watched in shock as Yukio grabbed the heart shaped pin on his coat and ripped it right off, throwing it at their feet._

_"I'm done!"_

 

* * *

 

_Suddenly Rin was in front of him, blackened eyes wide underneath his unruly and unkempt hair. Bon froze where he was, breath catching in his throat as Rin reached up. The chains dangling from his wrist scraped against the ground as Rin's clawed hand traced along the scars on his neck and cheek -- the same scars that Rin had put there. The half demon let out a distressed whine, but before he could do anything more, a dart implanted itself in his neck. Rin's eyes widened further as the sedatives kicked in, causing him to collapse to the ground. Instantly, Rin was being yanked back by his chains, dragged back into his cage._

_Just before his eyes closed, Rin looked up at Ryuji, reaching out desperately._

_"B-Bon-!"_

 

* * *

 

_Shura squared her shoulders as she stepped forwards in front of the Grigori._

_"Shura Kirigakure, you are hereby gifted the rank of True Cross' Paladin. Do you accept?"_

_She could feel Yukio staring incredulously at her back -- she only hoped he would let her explain before he lost it._

_"I do."_

 

* * *

 

_Shiemi smiled softly at Yukio, who sat in a chair next to Shura's hospital bed. In the red-haired woman's arms was a bundle from which a tiny face peeked out. The child had the dark brown hair of his father, but the green eyes of his mother. He was gorgeous, and Shiemi loved him already._

_"What are you going to name him?" She asked._

_Shura glanced over at Yukio and grinned, causing the brunette to flush in embarrassment as he looked up at Shiemi, smiling through his blush._

_"His name is Takeshiro."_

 

* * *

 

_Takeshiro's eyes flashed as he glanced up at the flamboyantly dressed demon standing in front of his class, grimacing as Mephisto grinned._

_"Congratulations, my dear Pages! You have all passed and are now officially Exwires, fully qualified for field missions!"_

_Their cheering was cut short as Mephisto grinned, and something about that devious smile sent shivers down his spine._

_"That is, if you pass Acceptance, of course!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Years have passed since the Exwires have graduated the Cram School and moved on to pursue their own lives, and now the next generation of Exorcist hopefuls have taken their place. Takeshiro Kirigakure, son of Yukio and Shura Kirigakure, is one of those starry-eyed newbies, but as time goes on, he learns that the Cram School isn't what he thought it would be. The Vatican is hiding far too many secrets from them, and now he's starting to suspect that his parents are involved, as well. What exactly is that demon chained deep under the Vatican, and who is the scarred priest that guards it. The more he finds out, the more questions he has, and the more he's starting to wish that he'd never gotten involved. 
> 
> And for Christ's sake, who the hell is that blue haired demon that keeps following him?"


	15. Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their movements are sharp, coordinated, matching perfectly with each other as Yukio leads. They're wild and intense, slaughtering demons left and right just to return to a demonic mockery of a passionate embrace, dancing through the blood and carnage. It's a new side of them that he's never seen before.
> 
> He's not quite sure how he feels about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! It feels like it's been forever since I've updated, but it's really only been a week! This story was one that I saw a prompt for (posted by @KaitouHime) and I decided to write. a little oneshot based on it! It's a little short, I know, and I'm sorry about that, but for this one I just wrote how much I felt it needed. I'll see if I can get my hands on another oneshot that I've finished and post it later today, to make for how short this one is. Well, whatever happens, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
> 
> Oh, and spoilers for those of you who haven't watched all of the anime! (This is anime based, if you couldn't tell)

If he was being honest, Rin had plenty of things to be embarrassed about.

First of which was his crush on Shiemi in tenth grade -- God, he was cringing just thinking about it. He didn't know how she never figured out he had a crush on her, he was just so obvious! Sitting by her in every class, flushing whenever she talked to him, always moving himself between her and other guys. It seemed like everyone _except_ for Shiemi know, and as for how that worked out, he had no idea. He finally worked up the nerve to tell her, towards the end of the year. She politely turned him down, of course, and even though he had long since moved on, he still felt second hand embarrassment whenever he thought about it.

That year in general was just something to be embarrassed about. His edgy, arrogant attitude the first few weeks of Cram Classes? Cringey. His absolute lack of effort in not only his regular school work but his Cram School work, while proclaiming his dream of becoming one of the best exorcists? Utterly mortifying. Drawing his sword practically any chance he got? God, don't remind him. Heck, even almost being sacrificed to the Gehenna Gate was an incredibly embarassing moment for him. Tied on a cross while his blood was drained from his body and his batshit insane grandfather preached about destroying Gehenna once and for all?

Traumatizing and mentally scarring, yes, but also rather humiliating.

But all of that paled in comparison to what had happened after he was almost-sacrificed.

 

* * *

 

  
"No! I'm not gonna do it!"

"Nii-san, please don't be difficult. This is just an experiment."

"Nu-uh!"

"Nobody is even going to see it, nii-san."

"I don't wanna!" Rin snapped, eyes narrowed as his face burned bright red.

Yukio sighed, though rather than the disappointed, 'I can't believe I have to explain this to you' look that usually follows after, he just looked thoroughly amused. "Whether we like it or not, nii-san, we both have the flames now. Even though yours are much stronger and potent than mine, we're both stronger when we're together."

"But I don't understand why we have to do it this way!" Rin protested.

"Because it's the easiest way to keep physical contact during conflict." Yukio explained. "Would you rather we hold hands while we're fighting?"

"Okay, I get what you mean, but _why do I have to be the girl?!"_

At that, Yukio fought back a smirk. "You're both shorter and smaller than me, nii-san."

"Yeah, but I'm older!"

"My point still stands."

Rin groaned loudly, flopping back onto his bed. "...I still don't wanna do it."

"You had no problem with touching before." Yukio pointed out, referring to when he had first awakened his powers when Satan attacked.

"That was different!" Rin whined.

"The only difference now is that here there are no longer such dire circumstances demanding that we combine our powers. Additionally, no one is watching this time."

After a minute, Rin finally twists his body to the sides looking over at Yukio. His face is beet red all the way up to his ears, something Yukio found rather cute -- it's just like Rin, to get so flustered over something as silly as this.

"Alright," Rin grouches, glancing off to the side in embarrassment. "But just this one time!"

Yukio smiles, soft and grateful. "Thank you, nii-san."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Rin muttered under his breath, reluctantly sitting up from his position on the bed. Yukio stands up from his spinning chair, crossing the distance between him and outstretching his hand. Rin looks up at Yukio- who looks back at him, amused, but not teasing -and feels his face growing hotter as he hesitantly takes Yukio's hand. The younger twin carefully pulls him up and tugs him forward to the space between their bed. Yukio maneuvers Rin's hand over to his shoulder and places his own on Rin's hip, their other two hands clasped off to the side.

"I didn't know you knew how to dance." Rin says, somewhat accusingly.

"There's a lot you don't know about me." Yukio replies, intending it to be a joke, but he knows immediately that something isn't right. Rin is looking up at him again, looking distressed.

"That's the problem."

Yukio wants to brush it off, to tell Rin that it was just a joke, but he knows that for Rin, it wasn't. It hung thickly between them, creating tension and discomfort that inhibits them from getting close enough. He sighed, pulling Rin closer and reaching for the mental connection that he felt before. A memory surfaced in Yukio's mind, one of him when he was younger, taking dancing classes just to beat Shura in another one of their dumb competitions. Rin breathes out a huff of laughter as he sees the memory, and Yukio knows it isn't much, but as Rin relaxes and leans his head on his younger twin's shoulder, he knows that it's a start.

Although he knows many more dances, Yukio starts with a simple waltz, using their mental connection to instruct Rin. The older twin, predictably, stares directly down at their feet as they sway together, but as the minutes pass, Rin relaxes further, closing his eyes and humming softly. He can feel their heartbeats syncing up, breathing matched and movements slow, languid. Every once and a while, Yukio snickers and Rin hisses a 'shut up!' at him as the blue haired demon trips over Yukio's feel, but besides that, it's peaceful, and not as embarassing as he thought.

Ever since he had awakened trying to protect Shiro, Rin had always felt a sort of tightness in his chest, a tension created by having to make sure his flames didn't flare up on accident. As the minutes passed, he felt that tension start to release, and as it faded away, he curiously opened his eyes. Rather than the writhing bonfire he expected, soft blue flames flickered on his skin. A glance upwards revealed that the flames trailed over his arms and on to Yukio. Both were covered in the fire, casting the room in a gentle blue light. It filled him with a sense of.. ease? Relaxation? He wasn't sure, but it felt nice.

Yukio finally seemed to notice the flames, and even though his movements continued on as normal, Rin could feel his younger twin's tension. He reached for that mental connection and grabbed ahold of that tranquil feeling, sharing it with Yukio. The mutterings of nervousness and unease faded away, disappearing beneath the quiet comforts of closeness.

Yeah, maybe he could get used to this.

 

* * *

 

  
Bon... isn't quite sure how he feels about this.

The battlefield is bathed in bright blue flames, there are burning, shrieking demons falling to the ground left and right, the Exorcist are contemplating declaring them insane, and the Okumura twins are dancing. Dancing. It looks like... God, he doesn't even know, some kind of fast paced, intense dance- tango? Was that it? It was the craziest shit he'd ever seen, but he can't help but stare as Yukio twirls Rin out -- who suddenly has Yukio's pistol in hand, grinning as he shoots a demon in the face point-blank. Rin is yanked back and now they're both grinning, decked in the flames of the god of Gehenna and smiling madly as if they couldn't give a damn less.

Their movements are sharp, coordinated, matching perfectly with each other as Yukio leads. They're wild and intense, slaughtering demons left and right just to return to a demonic mockery of a passionate embrace, dancing through the blood and carnage. It's a new side of them that he's never seen before. Yukio's staring down at Rin with intense, narrowed eyes, lips twisted into a grin that sent shivers down his spine. Rin's fangs are bared in a feral smile, eyes lighting up with the flames around them. They're power incarnate, a force of nature that no force on earth can hope to match.

Once the smoke has cleared and the ashes settle, Rin will flush and pout off to the side while Yukio sheepishly apologizes for creating such a mess, but now, they're busy showing everyone watching why their names are whispered with awe and fear.

And he's not quite sure how he feels about that.

But, as long as he's on their good side, he'll never have to worry about dying at the hands of power itself, wreathed in dancing blue flames.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also just recently got a computer for my birthday (late birthday present, lmao) so hopefully I'll be able to start Equilibrium revisions and get started on that new one I was wanting to write!


	16. Idiot Otouto (We're Okay)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, Rin's otouto really was an idiot. No sane person would ever throw themselves between a someone and a bullet, and yet, here they are. Yukio is in a hospital and Rin swears, she really is going to rip her hair out this time. (Fem!Rin, Okumura sibling bonding)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know what you're thinking, 'An update on Sunday? What is this madness?' and to be truthful, I meant to upload this yesterday, but I fell asleep in the process of writing it, ahaha. Anyways, this is another fem!Rin oneshot, and I don't mean this to sound narcissistic, but I'm actually pretty proud of it. I hope you guys like it! This also somewhat fufils the request of a user, @Arlerted

 

"Oh, good morning, Okumura-kun!"

 

Yukio smiled softly at his patient, setting his clipboard off to the side as he takes a seat in the chair next to the hospital bed. "Good morning, Umino-san, how are you feeling today?"

 

"As well as a man with a bullet wound in his chest can be!" Umino laughs, drawing a soft chuckle from Yukio.

 

"I'm going to take your vital signs now, are you alright with that?" Yukio then asks.

 

Umino smiles. "You ask me every day, and I always say yes."

 

"Just procedure, Umino-san."

 

The room falls back into comfortable quietness as Yukio disinfects a clinical thermometer and places it in Umino's mouth. While that takes his temperature, Yukio feels for his pulse and checks his respirations as he writes everything down. He adds on to his chart that Umino's breathing is still somewhat labored, but closer to normal than the days prior. Yukio sets aside his pen and clipboard to take Umino's blood pressure, and when that's done, he removes the thermometer, professional and efficient as always. He was twenty-six now and he had been a nurse for about five years after flying through medical school, but he still liked to do things by the book rather than risk shortcuts.

 

"Say, Okumura-kun, you have a sister, don't you?" Umino asks as Yukio writes.

 

Yukio can't help but smile. "Yes, her name is Rin, she's my older twin."

 

"Oh, you don't say?" Umino muses. "What does she do?"

 

"She's studying at a culinary college now. Her teachers say that she's one of the best cooks to ever walk through the college's doors."

 

"Ah, she's a cook, is she?"

 

"Mmhmm, it's really the only steady job she can keep down," Yukio replies somewhat sheepishly. He sets aside his clipboard again and begins unwrapping the bandages around Umino's chest.

 

"What do you mean by that?"

 

"My nee-chan, she... well, she tends to think with her fists rather than her head," Yukio explains as he undresses the sound and begins cleaning it, smiling at Umino's surprised look. "It's hard for her to hold down a job for more than a few weeks, but she's managed to hold this job as a cooking apprentice at a nice restaurant down the street for a month or two now."

 

"Quite the feisty one, isn't she?" Umino teases once he gets past his surprise.

 

Yukio chuckles again. "Yes, but thankfully, she's starting to redirect her strength and experience to positive outlets. She teaches a self-defense class downtown most afternoons."

 

"Maybe I'll have to-"

 

Yukio glances up as Umino suddenly goes stiff, raising an eyebrow at his patient's wide eyes. He follows Umino's gaze to the entrance of the hospital room, only to see Tanaka, the hospital's janitor. Tanaka was a younger boy, still in high school, who usually worked after school and on the weekends to help get some money to pay for college. Yukio had always gotten along well with the soft-spoken younger boy and made sure to thank him frequently for all his help around the hospital.

 

"Oh, hello Tanaka-san!" Yukio greeted him with a smile, as always. "I'm undressing his wound right now, so I'd recommend you-"

 

That was a gun.

 

Tanaka had a gun.

 

Yukio's stomach dropped right down to his feet, eyes widening and face paling. His heart skips a beat as the gun glistens in the light, clutched in Tanaka's white-knuckled grip. On instinct, Yukio steps in front of Umino's bed, hands held up in a placating gesture. Tanaka looks just as scared as Umino, body shaking and eyes wide, the gun trembling in his hands (which makes him even more dangerous, Yukio's mind hisses). Yukio's mind is already running a mile a minute, desperately trying to come up with some way to get out of this, but his thoughts abruptly short circuit as he hears the safety of the gun being clicked off.

 

"Okumura-san," Tanaka's voice is a breathy whisper, voice uneven. "Please step out of the way."

 

Yukio's response is automatic. "I can't do that, Tanaka-san."

 

"I don't want to hurt you, please, just move out of the way." Tanaka pleads desperately.

 

"I can't do that," Yukio says again, more forcefully this time. "You know I can't, so how about you just put the gun down-"

 

" _I can't!"_  Tanaka screeches suddenly, tears spilling from his eyes and over his cheeks. "Please! Just move out of the way!"

 

Yukio narrows his eyes and opens his mouth, but before he can even say anything Tanaka lets out a choked sob and jerks his finger back. Pain explodes in Yukio's abdomen and his legs give out from under him, sending him crashing down to the ground. There's the sound of a crack and something shattering, then more gunshots and a scream. His vision fades in and out precariously, his vision blurred and hazy. He realizes in some part of his mind that his glasses are broken now, somewhere on the floor next to him. Blood is dripping into his eyes, almost blinding him, but he forces himself up. The ground spins and shakes below him as he stumbles to his feet, lights flashing against pools of blood on white tiles.

 

He hears a groan and everything abruptly sharpens. He can see Umino now, reaching up weakly at his chest, mangled and ridden with bullet holes, blood splattered everywhere. Yukio's eyes widen and he inhales sharply. head whipping over to the entrance of the hospital room. 

 

"I need help!" He shouts. "My patient's been shot!!"

 

He yanks his shoe off and throws it at the emergency call button, somehow managing to hit close enough that the nurses were called. Some sort of alarm is blaring in his ears, high-pitched and wailing as he pulls his sleeves up, footsteps sounding faintly under the noise but quickly growing louder. He tears aside the bandages half wrapped around Umino's torso and braces his hands against his patient's chest even as the man's head lolls to the side. Yukio growls under his breath but refuses to give up, pushing Umino's head back up and forcing his mouth open. He's no stranger to CPR, immediately beginning compressions and forcing oxygen into Umino's lungs.

 

There are other people in the room now, shouting and yelling orders that he can't decipher for the life of him. He doesn't stop even as someone shouts that they can't feel a pulse anymore. The room is heavy with the scent of sweat and blood and other fluids he can't bring himself to identify but he knows just as well as anyone else that Umino's heart has stopped. Hands are yanking him back as they fire up a defibrillator, and he can barely see but he recognizes the seizing of Umino's chest as they try desperately to revive him. Yukio yells at Umino to stay awake, slapping his face in a futile attempt to get him to respond, but it's no use, his breathing has already stopped, the monitor is flat lining, he's not moving-

 

"Time of death, 6:17 pm." Someone says quietly.

 

"Ne, Okumura-kun, are you alright?" Another asks.

 

"Wait, is that blood?"

 

"Shit, he's been hit!"

 

"Someone get a stretcher, he's bleeding out!"

 

"Okumura, don't you dare fall asleep on us!"

 

There's a hand gently pushing him back, lights flashing in his eyes as his back hits something soft, his head lying on something fluffy. He sees blurry faces passing over him, white gloves stained with blood, silver IV stands glinting in the hallway lights. The shouting is deafening him, hurting his ears, why won't they be quiet? He feels tired, he wants to sleep. They're too noisy.

 

"Okumura-kun, look at me! Don't close your eyes!"

 

"Prep an ER, we need him in surgery STAT!"

 

His vision is fading in and out now, black creeping in on the edges of his vision. The voices are finally starting to fade away to a quiet buzzing, he can't even feel the gurney beneath him, the pain has faded away to nothing but a distant memory-

 

Everything goes black.

 

* * *

 

Rin is torn awake by a phone call.

 

She startles so badly at the buzzing that she damn near falls right out of her chair, catching herself on the worn wood just seconds before she topples over. Kuro jumps at her sudden movement, letting out an annoyed hiss as he hops down from the desk and perches himself on Rin's bed. The phone is still buzzing loudly even as Rin groans, tiredly rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she straightens herself in the desk chair, letting out a yawn and stretching lazily. She ignores the phone's buzzing in favor of mourning the nice dream she had just been ripped away from, one of spending the whole day on a date with that cute Suguro-kun...

 

Her phone starts buzzing again, and with an annoyed groan, she glances over at her phone, recognizing the phone number of that hospital Yukio was working at. Dammit, it was probably just her younger brother calling to see what they would be having for dinner that night -- when was he going to learn that he'd just have to wait to find out? She sighed. Maybe she could just go back to sleep now and go back to that sweet dream...

 

Suguro-kun was so cute, blushing up to his ears like that...

 

The phone buzzed for the third time, and with an angry growl she snatched the phone up from the desk, smashed the answer button and held the phone to her ear. "For God's sake, Yukio, you will find out what's for dinner when you _get here!"_

_"Um, is this Okumura Rin-san?"_

She quickly sobers at the unrecognized voice. "Yes? Who is this?"

 

_"I'm one of the nurses at your brother's hospital, and I'm calling to tell you that Okumura Yukio-san has just gone into emergency surgery-"_

Rin is on her feet in seconds, wedging her cell phone between her shoulder and her cheek as she grabs her jacket and throws Kurikara's strap over her shoulder. Kuro meows curiously at her, but the cat is ignored as Rin throws open the door to her and Yukio's shared bedroom and slams it shut behind her. Her footsteps thunder loudly in the empty hallways as the turns a corner and flies down the steps, barely even pausing to slip on her shoes before she's darting out the dorm's front doors. The woman on the phone is still talking as Rin starts a mad dash towards the hospital, grabbing her cell phone in her hand to make sure she doesn't drop it. Whatever the woman's saying, Rin quickly cuts her off.

 

"What happened?" Rin demands.

_"Oh, well, one of Okumura-san's patients was involved with some gang-related activities-"_

"Gang violence?!" Rin practically shrieks.

 

_"Yes, and it seems as if someone was attempting to murder Yukio's patient before he could say anything, and Okumura-san was caught in the crossfire."_

"Stupid otouto!" Rin hisses, then raises her voice again. "Do whatever you need to to keep him alive until I get there!"

 

She hangs up on the woman and shoves her phone in her back pocket before damn near doubling her pace. Rin shoves aside the people on the sidewalk blocking her, yelling at them to get out of her way. Normally she'd hate being so rude and violent, but her otouto is hurt and she's already waited too damn long. The hospital comes into view just a minute later, and she forces herself to run faster, to close the gap between her and her little brother. She throws open the hospital doors and barrels through crowds of nurses and doctors, and in seconds shouting and yelling has started up. She sees a security guard moving to stop her and prepares to snap his arm in half, but a nurse from the crowd recognizes her and shouts for them to let her past, that she's Okumura Yukio's sister.

 

"304-B!" The nurse shouts at her over the chaos. "Upstairs! Left wing!"

 

Rin nods and shouts back a thank you over her shoulder, skidding around a corner and throwing open the door to the stairs. She scales them two at a time, tearing through another set of doors and down the hallway like a hurricane. Nurses and doctors alike fall over themselves and each other to get out of her way as she sends papers and clipboards flying in her desperate run to get to her brother. She pays them no mind, dashing through hallways and past opened and closed doors-

 

There! 304-B!

 

She comes to a screeching halt outside the room, pulling the door open, her brother's name on her lips-

 

And then she sees him. Lying there so peacefully, blankets pulled up over his chest, scrubs replaced with the hospital's light blue clothes, chest raising softly with each breath. There's a nasal cannula going up his nose (a term she learned from overhearing his muttering while he studied), and his eyes are closed, tousled brown hair contrasting sharply against the white pillows. He looks near angelic, more relaxed than she's seen him in the past few days. Rin collapses to the floor under the weight of her relief, tears pearling in her eyes because _he's okay, her precious otouto is okay and she wasn't too late._

Yukio shifts, almost as if in response to her presence as he lets out a murmur of something that sounds like her name, muffled by the ventilator's mask. Rin is back on her feet in seconds, flopping down in the cushioned chair by Yukio's hospital bed and taking his twitching hand in hers. After a second of struggling to open his eyes, Yukio finally looks up at her and smiles softly, squeezing her hand. Rin can't help but grin as he reached his other hand up, careful not to move the IV as he wipes away the tears from underneath her eyes.

 

"Nee-chan-" His voice is raspy and dry, but he still forces himself to speak. "Nee-chan shouldn't be crying."

 

"Shh, stop talking, you idiot, you just got shot, you should be resting." Rin laughs, releasing his hand to reach for the little cup of water that had been left on the table by his bed. 

 

Before she can grab it, a hand grabbed the sleeve of her hoodie, stopping her from going any further. She raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Yukio as her brother weakly tugged her closer. She let him pull her, but as he reached his hand up, she realized what he wanted. With an amused huff of laughter, she held her arms out and held Yukio as he leaned against her chest. It had to have been uncomfortable, what with her hair probably all in his mouth and his back bent at an awkward angle to accommodate his injury, but Yukio clutches at her as if he's drowning. His body is shaking, whether, with emotion or exertion, she doesn't know, but she can make a good guess judging by the wetness she feels on her chest.

 

"You're okay," She murmurs, rubbing his back gently. "I'm okay, you're okay, we're okay."

 

He's just lost a patient in a situation where he was completely helpless. You could slay demons all day long, but humans were a different matter entirely, that she knew very well. As well as she understood how he felt, Rin didn't know how to help him other than to just let him cling to her and cry until the tears were gone. She wasn't good with words, she had no motivational speech to make Yukio feel better -- this was all she could do. She couldn't yell or punch or fight her way out of this, she could only let him cling to her and cry until he couldn't cry anymore. She hoped that, somehow, that would be enough.

 

After a minute, she speaks again. "How ironic is it that you're a patient at your own hospital, under the care of your own subordinates?"

 

Yukio smiles. "How ironic is it that the daughter of Satan possesses cooking skills that some swear on their life is from God itself?"

 

Rin laughs, reaching over to the bedside table to grab the box of tissues. She hands it to Yukio as he straightens back up, taking a tissue and wiping at his eyes. He looks a little odd without his glasses.

 

"Speaking of lunch," Rin says, glancing slyly over at Yukio. "I'm thinking about making lunch for Suguro-kun tomorrow."

 

Yukio grinned as he raised an eyebrow. "Are you finally going to ask him out?"

 

"Maybe!" Rin chirps. She can practically see it now, the way he'd turn such a dark shade of red, the way he'd shyly stutter out an answer -- good God, he was just too cute!

 

"At least take him on a date before you jump his bones." Yukio giggles.

 

"Yukio!" She gasps, an offended look on her face. "That's for the second date!"

 

Yukio laughs, which quickly turns into harsh coughing and hacking and she's abruptly reminded that Yukio is in this hospital bed for a _reason._  She pats him on the back as he practically coughs up a lung, quietly reaching over with her other hand to press the nurse's call button. Once he finally manages to get his breath back, she gently lowers him back down to the hospital bed, smiling to herself as Yukio's eyelids droop with exhaustion, completely tired out from the coughing fit. He reaches out again and she takes his hand in both of hers, just like how she used to when they were children and Yukio had to stay in bed for days because of his weak immune system.

 

"I'm tired, nee-chan." He says simply.

 

"Then go to sleep," She replies, squeezing his hand. "I'll be here when you wake up."

 

Yukio nods somewhat sluggishly and his eyes slip closed. She keeps her grip on his hand until his arm goes limp again, where she lays in down on the bed. She fondly smooths his hair back down as she hears the footsteps of the nurse coming up the hallway. Yukio's finally asleep now, but this time, she's sure he'll wake up again.


	17. Update

Hey guys, so you have probably noticed that I haven't been active lately. Or maybe you haven't, whatever, lmao. This is not a chapter, this is just me keeping you guys updated on what's going on. 

So, due to my own mental heath and the fact that finals, Milestones and AP Exams are coming up, and soon, updates will definitely slow this month and part of next month, until finals are over. I'm sorry that I have to do this, but unfortunately, school takes priority over writing. 

And I wanna take a second to thank you guys, for real. I can't believe we're almost at 6,000 hits! Not to mention 163 comments and 371 kudos, it's ridiculous. I'm grateful for all of you, even the guests on here, because you're the people who got me there. I don't want to drag this out and be that overly sappy author, but thanks, really :). 

I'll try to be updating as soon as possible, but please be patient with me! Your requests are absolutely not forgotten, I have them all written down and will be getting to them ASAP. Again, thank you guys, and hopefully I'll be able to update later this month!


	18. IMPORTANT

Hey guys, so, it's been literally like forever since I've updated this, and I really am sorry. Between AP and Honors classes, homework, marching band, family tension and being in the top band at my school, I've been really stretched thin. It's stressful, but writing is something i kind of consider as an escape, something I genuinely like and enjoy doing, and I'd like to start updating chapters here again if I can. It would probably be slow going, and I'm sorry about that, but it's the best I can do right now. 

That being said, if you've requested something and I haven't updated it already, repeat your request down in the comments and I'll try to get to it! And go ahead and add whether you'd like it to be published in this collection or separately by itself. 

I love you guys, and thank you to those who have stayed with me this far! <3


	19. wowo an update!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some important info!

Hey guys! I haven't completely abadoned the Blue Exorcist fandom, as much as it seems like it! There's sooooo much going on in the manga, it's impossible to just leave the fandom! I have a new fic on the way, as well as a one shot or two! I think from now on I'll be posting oneshots separately! I'll keep these ones here (unless you'd like me to post them separately as well) but oneshots will be posted as their own stories from now on!

Love u guys! Thank you for your patience and loyalty!! Content is on the way!

 

Come chat with me on Discord!! (anikuru #2322)

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are very much appreciated!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Occultist](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9517814) by [kdandsheela](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kdandsheela/pseuds/kdandsheela)




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